Thursday, March 24, 2011
Rich or poor, you too can help save the environment
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
The spectacle and the world-wide consequences of the horrid earthquake of Honshu, Japan, combined with the huge tsunami make it really imperative for the US and humanity at large to develop renewable energy resources as soon as possible. A warning of a major earthquake for New York was announced in this column shortly before the New Zealand catastrophe, and today the Indian Point #3 Nuclear Plant in Buchanan is considered NYS’s most vulnerable earthquake prospect (on the US level, the El Diablo plant in CA, a tsunami risk, may be more so). Indian Point is a major candidate for closing. I know the three-unit Indian Point Energy Center, having spent summers in Croton on the Hudson throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s, and hearing landlords praise the tax savings – the nuclear plant made ours the lowest-taxed NYS district – and listening to environmentalists objecting to the exposure, most recently State Attorney Andrew Cuomo.
That is high level thinking. If you want to help the energy situation on a personal level, look at your light bulbs. The plain ordinary incandescent light bulb, same since Thomas Edison’s days, chews up watts of energy, 90 percent of it wasted in heat. If you multiply that by 4 billion sockets, used by 300 million Americans and take into account that the US uses 100 quadrillion BTUs of energy a year, 336 billion per capita, exceeded only by Canada and a few small but rich countries (the world averages 72 million BTUs per capita). Further, 60 percent of US energy used goes into residential, commercial and electric utilities and 15% of residential electricity use is for lighting. We are talking big numbers.
The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act sets energy efficiency standards, in essence requiring that by we have 2012 new bulbs to generate the same light with 25 percent less energy input. This is also the law that orders passenger cars to improve to 35 gallons per mile operations by 2020, passed by a huge bipartisan vote. Light bulb manufacturers have caught on, and, since the Act does not specify the ways to increase light with less electricity, many manufacturers have started developing new products. Some retailers have even stopped selling incandescent light bulbs (Ikea, since January 2011). Halogen, a more expensive bulb, meets the 25 percent requirement, and the bulb lasts 2-3 times longer, and causes less objections.
To satisfy the traditionalists and meet the law, several makers are working on upgrading the incandescent bulb, not very successfully (GE gave up). There is also the problem of some congress people, e.g. Rep. Joe Barton (TX, Republican) have sponsored bills to reverse the guidelines as illegal, dictating what light bulbs Americans should use. He applies the same argument to orders of health insurance types to be used, and types of cars that Americans can drive. This ignores the fact that the 2007 legislation does not specify brand names or technology, and that only requests that certain characteristics be developed. More recently, Rep Michele Bachman, a spokesperson for the tea party (R, MN), has joined the choir, all of them ignoring the fact that without government sponsored standards we would not have such things as weights, measures of electricity , compatible construction screws, nuts and bolts , and computers that communicate with to each other.
More valid is the argument that fluorescent substitutes for the incandescent bulb have mercury content. The best, CFL (I think of it as Conical, but the acronym actually means Compact Fluorescent Light), uses 75 percent less energy and lasts 10 plus times longer. It also costs several dollars, but the savings outweigh the expenditure, by far. Unfortunately, there is the mercury, a small amount, and the EPA’s broken bulb disposal instructions, which are not known to be enforced, can give you shivers. You must air the room for 15 minutes, not vacuum the pieces, and use special precautions for disposal. Hastily we might add that all fluorescent bulbs, including the tubes that we have used in kitchens and utility functions for decades, have mercury, and the big stores will take your broken CFL shards for disposal (not tested). You can also note that coal fired electric and other plants, notorious mercury outputters, produce 25 percent of energy (environmentalists claim 50 percent) and cutting needs of energy produced from coal may outweigh CFL mercury danger. Parenthetically, energy comes 40 percent from petrol, from coal as above, from natural gas (23), nuclear power (8.4) and from renewables – hydro, wind, sun and geothermal.
The newest player in lighting is LED, the source of the tiny lights on appliances, radios and clocks. We have always known them as barely energy consumingm and it is true, they chew up 80 percent less energy and last 15 times longer than incandescents. Pretty safe, they also cost a lot, and are expected to improve more.
This household was introduced to CFLs by Eddy and Karl Warshall, of the eponymous hardware store on 3rd Ave near 20th Street. Their current brands equal the customary light color requirements. We had tried a cheap brand from a big store but it gave off a blue sheen and put us of temporarily. Not so nice for the US, most light bulbs are produced in Southeast Asia, e. g. South Korea, putting American ingenuity to a test, but it did take Thomas Edison many years to develop the incandescent filament (“genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration,” if I quote him correctly), and we should try to do it again. And maybe, just maybe, the congress people who removed the support funds for the Geological Survey, NOAA, earthquake and tsunami watching will come to their senses. You may want to write to Hal Rogers, R-KY, Chair of House Appropriations Committee.
Wally Dobelis thanks the Philadelphia Inquirer, NYTimes and internet sources
The spectacle and the world-wide consequences of the horrid earthquake of Honshu, Japan, combined with the huge tsunami make it really imperative for the US and humanity at large to develop renewable energy resources as soon as possible. A warning of a major earthquake for New York was announced in this column shortly before the New Zealand catastrophe, and today the Indian Point #3 Nuclear Plant in Buchanan is considered NYS’s most vulnerable earthquake prospect (on the US level, the El Diablo plant in CA, a tsunami risk, may be more so). Indian Point is a major candidate for closing. I know the three-unit Indian Point Energy Center, having spent summers in Croton on the Hudson throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s, and hearing landlords praise the tax savings – the nuclear plant made ours the lowest-taxed NYS district – and listening to environmentalists objecting to the exposure, most recently State Attorney Andrew Cuomo.
That is high level thinking. If you want to help the energy situation on a personal level, look at your light bulbs. The plain ordinary incandescent light bulb, same since Thomas Edison’s days, chews up watts of energy, 90 percent of it wasted in heat. If you multiply that by 4 billion sockets, used by 300 million Americans and take into account that the US uses 100 quadrillion BTUs of energy a year, 336 billion per capita, exceeded only by Canada and a few small but rich countries (the world averages 72 million BTUs per capita). Further, 60 percent of US energy used goes into residential, commercial and electric utilities and 15% of residential electricity use is for lighting. We are talking big numbers.
The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act sets energy efficiency standards, in essence requiring that by we have 2012 new bulbs to generate the same light with 25 percent less energy input. This is also the law that orders passenger cars to improve to 35 gallons per mile operations by 2020, passed by a huge bipartisan vote. Light bulb manufacturers have caught on, and, since the Act does not specify the ways to increase light with less electricity, many manufacturers have started developing new products. Some retailers have even stopped selling incandescent light bulbs (Ikea, since January 2011). Halogen, a more expensive bulb, meets the 25 percent requirement, and the bulb lasts 2-3 times longer, and causes less objections.
To satisfy the traditionalists and meet the law, several makers are working on upgrading the incandescent bulb, not very successfully (GE gave up). There is also the problem of some congress people, e.g. Rep. Joe Barton (TX, Republican) have sponsored bills to reverse the guidelines as illegal, dictating what light bulbs Americans should use. He applies the same argument to orders of health insurance types to be used, and types of cars that Americans can drive. This ignores the fact that the 2007 legislation does not specify brand names or technology, and that only requests that certain characteristics be developed. More recently, Rep Michele Bachman, a spokesperson for the tea party (R, MN), has joined the choir, all of them ignoring the fact that without government sponsored standards we would not have such things as weights, measures of electricity , compatible construction screws, nuts and bolts , and computers that communicate with to each other.
More valid is the argument that fluorescent substitutes for the incandescent bulb have mercury content. The best, CFL (I think of it as Conical, but the acronym actually means Compact Fluorescent Light), uses 75 percent less energy and lasts 10 plus times longer. It also costs several dollars, but the savings outweigh the expenditure, by far. Unfortunately, there is the mercury, a small amount, and the EPA’s broken bulb disposal instructions, which are not known to be enforced, can give you shivers. You must air the room for 15 minutes, not vacuum the pieces, and use special precautions for disposal. Hastily we might add that all fluorescent bulbs, including the tubes that we have used in kitchens and utility functions for decades, have mercury, and the big stores will take your broken CFL shards for disposal (not tested). You can also note that coal fired electric and other plants, notorious mercury outputters, produce 25 percent of energy (environmentalists claim 50 percent) and cutting needs of energy produced from coal may outweigh CFL mercury danger. Parenthetically, energy comes 40 percent from petrol, from coal as above, from natural gas (23), nuclear power (8.4) and from renewables – hydro, wind, sun and geothermal.
The newest player in lighting is LED, the source of the tiny lights on appliances, radios and clocks. We have always known them as barely energy consumingm and it is true, they chew up 80 percent less energy and last 15 times longer than incandescents. Pretty safe, they also cost a lot, and are expected to improve more.
This household was introduced to CFLs by Eddy and Karl Warshall, of the eponymous hardware store on 3rd Ave near 20th Street. Their current brands equal the customary light color requirements. We had tried a cheap brand from a big store but it gave off a blue sheen and put us of temporarily. Not so nice for the US, most light bulbs are produced in Southeast Asia, e. g. South Korea, putting American ingenuity to a test, but it did take Thomas Edison many years to develop the incandescent filament (“genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration,” if I quote him correctly), and we should try to do it again. And maybe, just maybe, the congress people who removed the support funds for the Geological Survey, NOAA, earthquake and tsunami watching will come to their senses. You may want to write to Hal Rogers, R-KY, Chair of House Appropriations Committee.
Wally Dobelis thanks the Philadelphia Inquirer, NYTimes and internet sources
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 7:48 AM 
