Wasting Energy: Learn How to Save Energy & Money

While writing a new report on Home Energy, I read an important article in Time Magazine, Wasting Our Watts. Here are the key messages I took away from this article … and anyone who’d like a copy of my Home Energy Report, send request to tina@myhandymannh.com.

Available immediately, surprisingly abundant

Unlike coal & petroleum, does not pollute

Unlike solar and wind, not dependent on the weather

Unlike ethanol, no deforestation or inflated food prices

Unlike nuclear plants, it is safe!

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A simple concept, Waste Less Energy

… or “more precisely, consuming less energy to get the same amount of heat for your shower, lights for your office and power for your factory. It turns out to be much less expensive, destructive and time-intensive to reduce demand through efficiency than to increase supply through new drilling or new power plants.”

Here are the key points I took away from this article:

• Without the energy saving measures taken after the 1973 energy crisis, the US would use nearly 50% more energy today, which is more than we get from oil today.
• Today’s (not future but available today) best techniques “… could save the US half our oil and gas and three-fourths of our electricity.”
• Obama has pledged to cut 15% of all energy used by the Federal Government, the world’s largest consumer … what if we all made a commitment to cut our consumption by 15%
• We need to stop waste at every point in the energy supply chain:
  • Reduce waste during the power generation process, as the article states “Our power plants waste enough energy to power Japan.”
  • Create new standards for energy efficiency to achieve results found elsewhere, as the article states “Our cars, water heaters and industrial motors are still embarrassingly inefficient compared with Japanese and European models.”
  • Building codes must be updated to drive the use of more efficient building design and materials, as today buyers are reluctant to pay the upfront costs even when the payback is achieved in just 3 to 5 years.
  • “Let utilities make money saving energy; … by decoupling electricity profits from sales volume; … a reasonable rate of return on their investments in efficiency improvements for their customers.”
  • Consumers must commit to saving energy with low energy light bulbs, programmable thermostats. Learn more about the Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency that can help you get started.