The Most Difficult Task | Green Energy News

May 20, 2008 – Vol.13 No.9

THE MOST DIFFICULT TASK.

Whenever I travel I’m reminded of how difficult it is now, and will continue to be in the coming years, for Americans to cut their energy consumption and associated greenhouse gases.

As much as I’m an advocate of these cuts I’m far from a model. Daily, at home, I’m pretty good. My energy and emission habits while traveling are poor, however.

All of my long distance travel nowadays is up and down the US east coast. I fly (even though I don’t like it much) or I drive. I’d take the train, Amtrak, if it compared in price with flying.

Not having inexpensive intercity train service is one of the energy/emissions problems the US has. Why is it that relatively low-tech, time-tested, low energy consuming, reliable, safe, form of travel is so expensive when the high-tech, high-cost travel, by air, is so cheap even with high fuel costs? Someone should study this, put some detailed numbers together. I want to know.

I don’t offset my emissions from flying by purchasing renewable energy credits (RECs). To me the whole credit scheme is too indirect. If I knew a purchase of RECs was going to help the direct purchase of a new wind turbine or solar system I’d be inclined to buy them. I think some kind of account where people could contribute for a specific project would be more appealing than the difficult to understand purchase of RECs.

I’d also be inclined to contribute to this kind of direct renewable energy account if the airlines themselves had the option to donate at time of ticket purchase, on their websites for instance. Wouldn’t it be interesting, too, if an airline decided it would attempt to build a wind farm to offset its emissions using contributions from customers? Call it the Jet Stream Wind Farm or something.

When I leave the house for an extended trip l almost never turn the water heater into vacation mode. It will continue to make hot water that I will never use, burning precious natural gas, emitting carbon, all the time I’m gone. I don’t even bother to turn down the heat. This is where home automation would be helpful. I often carry a laptop with me. I’d probably turn them both down via the Web while away, if i could.

On the plane I almost always get a window seat. I like to take a look at the world, my home. It’s flying at night that reminds me how difficult cutting energy and emissions is and will be. At night one of the wealthiest regions of the world is lit up like a Christmas tree. it’s pretty but energy is wasted everywhere.

At 10 o’clock on a Sunday night I see empty parking lots lit up bright as day. Couldn’t anyone throw the switch and shut half of them off? Think of all the electricity that could be diverted from parking lot lights to the batteries of electric cars.

We’ve done an outstanding job of adding streetlights to thousands of miles of roadways but the last time I looked, my car and every other car on the road has headlights. Street lights are for walkers. Why do we have them on freeways and other non-pedestrian roadways?

There’s all those illuminated signs of commerce. You’d think proprietors of stores would want them shut off to save a little energy during off hours. And billboards, is advertising in the middle of the night that effective?

Then there’s sprawl in general. We’ve built an entire economy based on cars and cheap energy. Energy may be permanently expensive.

From thirty thousand feet the constellations of light - large and small - mean there’s a community. Communities of homes built around centers of commerce offer some hope in cutting energy and emissions. With mass transit, bicycling and walking people in communities will adapt.

But beyond the clusters of light there are all the individual stars, homes built miles away from communities. Those are the concern. People may want to live away from the madding crowd but their energy and emissions costs are very high, They are totally reliant on gasoline and diesel. How much longer can they afford to live there?

The endless flowing stream of red or white lights connect everything in our economy. In most places people have no other choice but to drive. If an alternative can’t be found to gasoline or diesel those red and white streams of light will get fewer and dimmer. The roads, the cars, the fuel in them are the veins and lifeblood of our economy. What happens if the flow suddenly slows to a crawl?