Fossil Fuel Reduction Strategy

There are three ways to prevent pollution due to dirty, fossil-fueled energy from entering our atmosphere: efficiency, conservation, and clean energy.  To some this is very obvious, but sometimes it helps “energy novices” to go over the differences so they can better plan their energy strategy and strengthen their ability to visualize energy.  The better you know your enemy , the easier it is to defeat (fossil fuel energy is our enemy here people).
Efficiency
Energy Efficiency means using less energy to get the same job done.  A CFL (compact fluorescent light)  is the perfect example of this.  As I showed in my lighting cost comparison between CFL’s and incandescents post, a 14 Watt CFL light bulb uses about 4 times less energy than a 60-watt incandescent bulb.  But while it uses much less energy, it puts out the same about of light, meaning that CFL’s are way more energy efficient than incandescent.
Other examples of energy efficient products are shown with the Government’s Energy Star program.  These are appliances that meet a certain level of energy efficiency.  Examples of energy efficient products that could save you a lot of energy due to superior design are refrigerators, washers/dryers, heating/cooling equipment, and other appliances that are used daily.
Conservation
While Energy Efficiency involves using energy smarter, Energy Conservation means not using energy at all.  As Amory Lovins says, Negawatts (not using energy at all) are the cleanest form of energy out there.  Examples of energy conservation in the home are turning off the lights (manually or using lighting controls) or turning off appliances when not in use (you can even use an automatic timer) or programming your thermostat to come on less when you don’t need AC or Heat.  Another example of energy conservation is insulating your home so your programmable thermostat controlled energy efficient furnace doesn’t have to work as hard to keep comfortable.  Like layers of clothing help you keep warm in winter, energy conservation layers (more insulation + programmable thermostat) help you prevent that much more fossil fuel energy from being used in the first place!
I’ve even shown in one post how energy conservation is a better investment than the stock market!
Clean Energy
Once you have installed energy efficient devices in your house and you have learned how to conserve the energy that you do use, the next step is using clean energy when you have to use it!
Clean Energy is energy that doesn’t pollute and is renewable.  The cleanest forms of this energy are Solar power and Wind power (which in itself is a form of solar power –> sun heats air, which causes temperature differentials, which cause wind).  Installing Solar or Wind systems can be expensive up front, but there are Federal tax incentives, State tax incentives for many, and sometimes even utility rebates.   While your very own Clean Energy generating system may be a longer term goal for some, it is definitely a pillar of getting off the fossil fuel strategy.
In a few years I hope to get a plug-in electric vehicle.  The motor powering the car will be energy efficient and by driving it I will be conserving gasoline (because it wont use gasoline, it will use electricity as it’s fuel) made from oil that came from the middle east.  I hope to eventually power the plug-in with clean energy from solar panels installed on my roof.
Getting our society off fossil fuel energy is not going to be easy.  It’s going to need a change in attitude by the public, a large amount of education, and the help of many leaders to show the “holdouts” how rewarding it can be to help lower our dependence on fossil fuel.   Let’s install efficient devices, start conserving as much as possible, and look at installing clean energy now.  Doing this will clean our skies, improve our national security, and fatten our wallets.
Sounds like a good strategy to me.

WATCH THE VIDEO OF SMART GRID

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IT'S TIME TO TALK CLIMATE CHANGE

In April 2009 the Los Angeles Times ran the headline: “What will global warming look like? Scientists point to Australia”. Nearly two years on - the events unfolding in Australia – record-breaking droughts, killer bushfires and devastating floods – gave a snapshot of our future in a globally warmed world. now again in 2011 it shows the same.....

The floods that have led to most of Queensland being declared a disaster zone are a disturbing reminder that even one of the richest countries in the world is not safe from the devastation of natural disasters.

Though you can’t make a direct link between Australia’s killer floods and climate change, they do hold a warning for the future: Scientists predict such extreme weather events will increase both in intensity and frequency as the planet warms.

Raging floodwaters have swamped thousands of homes and businesses in Queensland, leaving at least 25 people dead and dozens more missing since late November. Rail lines and highways have been washed away in what is shaping up to become Australia’s costliest natural disaster.

“The Earth is delivering a message to us. And the message is that more extreme weather is becoming the norm rather than the exception,” said John Magrath, a climate change researcher at British charity Oxfam.

Droughts and floods are expected to become more severe as global temperatures climb. Less clear is the impact on wind patterns and ocean currents, factors that could alter climate in potentially dramatic ways not fully understood yet.

Most atmospheric scientists attribute most of the warming seen in recent decades to gases released into the air by industrial processes and gasoline-burning engines.

Australia’s floods, which started in late November, have been linked to the La Nina weather phenomenon, which refers to cooler than normal surface sea temperatures in parts of the Pacific, causing disruptions in weather patterns. La Nina occurs naturally, and the link to climate change remains unclear, said Omar Baddour of the World Meteorological Organization.

"Turning Trash Into Power"-Generate Natural Gas with Bacteria

HOW IT WORKS: In the process, food waste is collected from restaurants and institutions and then fed to bacteria that thrive in low-oxygen environments. It's called anaerobic digestion, a naturally occurring process of decomposition. One type of bacteria turns carbohydrates into simple sugars, amino acids and fatty acids. A second group of bacteria eats those compounds and turns them into hydrogen gas, carbon dioxide, and acetic acid -- the primary component of vinegar. Then a third group of bacteria takes those broken-down compounds and turns them into methane and carbon dioxide. Between 60 and 80 percent becomes methane. The methane can be used as fuel for an internal combustion engine that provides electricity.
TYPES OF DIGESTION: Anaerobic digestion is not the same thing as human digestion, since the type of bacteria that produce methane don't live in the human digestive tract. Industrial anaerobic digesters can also harness this natural process to treat waste, provide heat, and increase nutrients in soil. They are most commonly used for sewage treatment and for managing animal waste.
BENEFITS: The goal of SMUD is to obtain 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources such as wind, solar, and biodegradable matter by 2011. Currently SMUD derives 10 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, of which biomass accounts for 2.5 percent. The UC-Davis digester would keep food and other biodegradable waste out of landfills; food leftovers account for 18 percent of a landfill's contents. One tone of leftover food can produce enough fuel to power 18 homes for one day.
WHAT ARE EXTREMOPHILES? An extremophile is any microbe that thrives in extreme conditions, such as temperature (extreme heat or cold), pressure, salinity, low oxygen environments, or high concentrations of hostile chemicals. Most extremophiles belong to a class known as archaeobacteria, but certain species of worm, crustacean and krill can also be considered extremophiles.