|
|||||
|
Auto Fuel Efficiency Explained My lofty Goals with this project |
|
Energy Efficiency and Off Grid
Living |
|||
|
|
Areas of Conservation: The word “conservation” has had
some bad press. I like to use the phrase “Less waste.” ·
Electricity: ·
Heating: ·
Water: ·
Transportation: Here are some thoughts on these topics and
my particular interests: Electricity: I am a proponent of solar, wind, hydro, geothermal,
natural gas, oil, coal, and nuclear generating power. IN THAT ORDER. I am not
opposed to the use of any of them wholeheartedly because I think that is
unrealistic thinking. We people need power. We persons want power. Period. However, I AM opposed to wasting any of the
electricity that is created from any of those sources. I believe the greatest
benefits to society are in simply becoming aware of one’s energy usage
and reducing waste. Just because you become aware, does not mean you go
without. Becoming aware is the definition of consciousness. Having said that,
it is clear that, generally, populations won’t pay attention to things
unless it affects them in some adverse way. If the price becomes high enough
that they can not afford it, they may change. If there is a chance of running
out, they may change. Living off-the grid has the latter as a motivator. Heating
and appliances: Solar heating is terribly under utilized in
this country. It is neither expensive nor difficult to design the energy of
the sun into heating homes. Even in areas of low sun, benefits can be gained
just by paying attention to the design. This is true of cooling as well. In some areas of the country, solar could be
used solely for hot water, forced hot air heating, and possibly even cooling. Solar cooling. Yep. With the cooling power
of evaporation, hot can be made cold. We’ve been doing it for decades
and the technology is commonplace in RV refrigerators. I’d like to work
with it on a larger scale. Perhaps it will be a future experiment. Solar Hydrogen: Hydrogen can be made from electricity
and safely stored for use in any appliance that currently uses propane (like
heaters and stoves and refrigerators.) Fuels cells are great. They create
both electricity AND heat. My interest here is in creating more efficient
ways of creating Hydrogen from water. There will always be an inefficiency
here, so we must think in broader terms than just percentages. Practicality
can sometimes trump the scientific math. We should be looking at Hydrogen
storage more like an extension to a battery bank. When the battery bank is
full, let’s make Hydrogen to use later, when the sun (or wind) is not shining
(or blowing.) Water: It is true. Water is our future. It will
become the greatest commodity. I’ll go out on a limb here. It’s
not that there isn’t enough water, it’s that we have too many
people to distribute it to. Want to help future generations? Have two
children instead of six. That way, in ten years, we won’t need three
times as much water. There, I said it…. Water never really gets consumed. It is
used and recycled. Groundwater contamination is our biggest threat right now.
If water gets ruined, then we can’t use it. Unless it is processed, it’s
out of service. We can create water, to a certain degree. Large scale water production from sea water
is expensive. Small scale is not. If you happen to live on the coast, you can
have all the pure water you want with solar distilling. For those of us
inland, we must all stop wasting. Again, conserving isn’t necessary because
it gets used up, but because it makes the demand softer. And THAT makes it
easier for those involved in water distribution administration to smooth out
the supply during shortages. We must educate. Again, I don’t think
people tend toward change unless it will affect them in some way. If YOU run
out, (no shower or laundry today,) YOU just might start thinking of ways to
save it. Transportation: This is my greatest area of interest. I
grew up in the Electric vehicles are great. But the
current electric grid is already over-burdened. So, this comes back to
creating better “green” grid supplements. Additionally,
investments must be made into the infrastructure to support up-coming electric
based vehicles. To start though, I would simply like to see
the MPG rating go up. Again, stop wasting fuel. Cars make a lot of heat and
not a lot of motion for the energy we put into them. Motor companies are slow
and have been generally unmotivated. Look into the ideas posed here on
increasing fuel mileage. There are a |
||||
|
|
|
|
|||
