ENERGY CONSERVATION
This will be a good year to pay attention to energy as a concept and a business. Fuel prices for heating oil, propane, and gasoline are at record levels. Electricity prices (we now pay both for generation and for getting electricity “transported” to us) controlled by utility commissions will likely rise. And, natural gas pipelines are running at capacity and at record prices.
In the past decade companies that produced electricity, refined oil, and natural gas have all become “energy” companies. The “giant oil companies” are now growing together: ExxonMobil-ChevronTexaco-ConocoPhillips-BritishPetroleum. Growth in electricity consumption worldwide is outstripping the supply of fossil fuels. India is incapable of keeping up with its growing economic demand for power, and within thirty years growth in the Chinese economy could produce demand for oil that exceeds all of current supply.
Energy companies have it about right. They are in the business of converting the products they have into the energy you need – heat, electricity, mechanical power. We want energy available in every one of the 8760 hours each year, and we are going to find it increasingly difficult to get energy on demand unless we do something different. This year will be different.
We have to change demand, because there is no way to change supply in the short term. Oil prices have tripled in months. US supplies from the Gulf Coast refineries are vulnerable, and supplies from the Middle East are uncertain. The biggest surprise of the year is that the cost of gasoline and heating oil has only increased by 50-100%. The winter has not even begun, but consumers (and governments, who are also consumers of energy) must change strategies to aggressively emphasize conservation. Turn down the thermostat, seal up the cracks, put on the storm windows, change the light bulbs to fluorescent. Consider buying a hybrid vehicle (business fleets can do this). Do all the things we did in the 1970’s “energy crisis” and more, with better technology.
We also have to change supply – something that will require changes in thinking along with research and development. The supply of energy from sources other than coal and oil is too limited. In the 1970’s Brazil spurred the creation of cars that could run on either gasoline or ethanol (an idea recently seized by Ford Motor Co.). Ethanol is a cleaner fuel source than oil. Clarkson researchers have developed recently small-scale plants to created diesel fuel from biowaste and are also engaged in converting farm waste to natural gas. Changing the supply of fuel materials will differ regionally, but these new supplies coupled with changes in power generation like the Maple Ridge wind farm can lead us toward “energy independence.” We do not, today, have the luxury of waiting for the hydrogen economy powered by fuel cells. That will take much longer and require fundamental changes in technology.
Expect another cold winter. This one will be more expensive, but each one of us has a hand in the economics of energy. We can reduce demand through conservation – each household can easily save 10% of its energy bill by being careful. Falling demand driven by conservation will reduce upward price pressures on limited supplies. And, we can support research and development of alternative energy systems. These will be local, further reduce demand on outside sources, and create jobs regionally as we try to keep the lights on and the furnace running. Aggressive conservation of energy produces two wins for consumers – reduced demand helps keep petroleum prices down and conservation practices save every household money.
Dick Pratt is Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York.
In the past decade companies that produced electricity, refined oil, and natural gas have all become “energy” companies. The “giant oil companies” are now growing together: ExxonMobil-ChevronTexaco-ConocoPhillips-BritishPetroleum. Growth in electricity consumption worldwide is outstripping the supply of fossil fuels. India is incapable of keeping up with its growing economic demand for power, and within thirty years growth in the Chinese economy could produce demand for oil that exceeds all of current supply.
Energy companies have it about right. They are in the business of converting the products they have into the energy you need – heat, electricity, mechanical power. We want energy available in every one of the 8760 hours each year, and we are going to find it increasingly difficult to get energy on demand unless we do something different. This year will be different.
We have to change demand, because there is no way to change supply in the short term. Oil prices have tripled in months. US supplies from the Gulf Coast refineries are vulnerable, and supplies from the Middle East are uncertain. The biggest surprise of the year is that the cost of gasoline and heating oil has only increased by 50-100%. The winter has not even begun, but consumers (and governments, who are also consumers of energy) must change strategies to aggressively emphasize conservation. Turn down the thermostat, seal up the cracks, put on the storm windows, change the light bulbs to fluorescent. Consider buying a hybrid vehicle (business fleets can do this). Do all the things we did in the 1970’s “energy crisis” and more, with better technology.
We also have to change supply – something that will require changes in thinking along with research and development. The supply of energy from sources other than coal and oil is too limited. In the 1970’s Brazil spurred the creation of cars that could run on either gasoline or ethanol (an idea recently seized by Ford Motor Co.). Ethanol is a cleaner fuel source than oil. Clarkson researchers have developed recently small-scale plants to created diesel fuel from biowaste and are also engaged in converting farm waste to natural gas. Changing the supply of fuel materials will differ regionally, but these new supplies coupled with changes in power generation like the Maple Ridge wind farm can lead us toward “energy independence.” We do not, today, have the luxury of waiting for the hydrogen economy powered by fuel cells. That will take much longer and require fundamental changes in technology.
Expect another cold winter. This one will be more expensive, but each one of us has a hand in the economics of energy. We can reduce demand through conservation – each household can easily save 10% of its energy bill by being careful. Falling demand driven by conservation will reduce upward price pressures on limited supplies. And, we can support research and development of alternative energy systems. These will be local, further reduce demand on outside sources, and create jobs regionally as we try to keep the lights on and the furnace running. Aggressive conservation of energy produces two wins for consumers – reduced demand helps keep petroleum prices down and conservation practices save every household money.
Dick Pratt is Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York.
posted by Dick Pratt at
8:10 AM
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