Every Choice Matters

In each of our lives, there come times when we have to make choices about our place in the world. Do we choose to be an active participant or a passive bystander? Recently, I have found myself in the unpopular position of participant.

By now, most people have been touched by the possibility of an oil shortage. Whether from increasing prices at the gas pump or through reading news stories about “peak oil”, in some way, the rising cost of oil has touched us all. But only a small minority has an appreciation for the implications of an energy crisis in the 21st century.

For me, it hit during the Fall of 2004. Gas and heating oil prices had practically doubled in the preceding year and I was looking into more efficient heating and cooling systems for my home. During the course of my research, I came across information on peak oil – the concept that the world was about to reach a point in time when global oil production was at a maximum.

At first, this might not seem like such a big deal. There’s plenty of oil now, and we’ve been extracting it for many decades, so why should this be a problem? And besides, look at the advances in hybrid vehicles, solar power, and those miraculous fuel cells! In the next fifty years, scientists are sure to come up with a replacement for oil.

Unfortunately, the world consumption of energy increases every year. Strong economies are built on the abundance of energy. And most of our energy comes from oil. Oil to run cars, to make plastic, to provide power for the foundries that produce computer chips. Oil for farm machinery and electricity. Everything we know as progress and economic growth depends on a never ending supply of relatively inexpensive oil.

And what of alternative energies? Perhaps if we did have one hundred years to transition from oil to alternate sources, we could do so smoothly. Unfortunately, the world demand for oil will likely exceed the maximum supply within the next decade. Only with concerted efforts on the part of every person can we hope to pass this critical juncture without severe disruption to our way of life.

Each moment, we make decisions which seem insignificant in and of themselves. When multiplied by six and a half billion people, these same decisions are world changing. Even if one only includes the population of the United States, roughly 300 million people, even the most minute decision can change the world.

For example, in the U.S., we use approximately twenty million barrels of oil per day. That’s 2.8 gallons of oil per person per day. Each of us may think that it doesn’t matter if we use 2 or 3 gallons per day, but when considering the entire population, this seemingly trivial difference amounts to almost three hundred million gallons of oil per day. Think about that.

Each of us holds the key to the future of the world. If only ten or even a thousand of us turn that key, little will happen. But if tens of millions of us take action, the cumulative effort can help us not only survive but thrive in the upcoming decades.

I’ve made a personal choice to consider how each of my daily decisions affects my personal energy consumption. Should I drive a truck or a more efficient vehicle down to the store for a few groceries? Should I install a fluorescent bulb to replace the burned out incandescent? Trivial decisions by themselves, profound ones together.

And then there are the big decisions. I own a couple of rental properties in addition to my own home. Some are heated by oil furnaces. Every year, they burn hundreds, if not thousands of gallons of oil. What if I throw away the furnace and install a more efficient heating system? What if my friends and neighbors did the same? What if everyone did so? Soon one thousand gallons becomes ten thousand then millions of gallons saved every year.

How about my house? This year I spent quite a bit of time and money improving the insulation on my own home and at rental properties. In doing so, I reduced the energy needs of the houses significantly. Will the energy savings pay for the insulation and my time? Maybe not any time soon. Will it save energy? Absolutely.

And how about that renovation project? Replace leaky windows with high efficiency, low-e windows and reduce one of the greatest sources of energy loss in your home by 50%-75%. Again, it may take a while to pay for them, but every improvement made will save irreplaceable energy.

Even better, add passive and active solar heating. Using relatively basic principles, you can drastically reduce your home's heating needs. And if you're building a new home, incredible savings can be achieved through a whole house design that utilizes intelligent building design, low consumption appliances, and solar heating.

Can I change the world by saving a little enrgy today? You bet I can. And so can you!

Magazines and Reference Articles

Home Power Magazine - Magazine devoted to "home-scale renewable energy and sustainable living solutions"
Mother Earth News - Magazine with long history of devotion to alternative energy and low-impact living
National Geographic - The End of Cheap Oil (article)
Newsweek - Crude Awakening (article)

Energy Efficient Building

Energy and Environmental Building Association - Focused on educating professional builders
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy - U.S. Gov. page on efficient building topics
EnergyStar - The U.S. Government EnergyStar Program
OIKOS Green Building Source - Green Building News

SIPS - SIP (Structural Insulate Panels) Association

Efficient Vehicles / Biodiesel for Transportation

Biodiesel - Green-trust.org info on biodiesels with lots of links
Biodiesel.org - "The official site of the national biodiesel board"
Biodiesel 101 - Nice overview and links to biodiesel resources
Biodiesel from Algae - University of New Hampshire site. Give background usage stats and savings possible
Biodiesel from Algae - U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory paper on getting oil from algae
Biodiesel Now - Biodiesel site with extensive discussion group
Green Car Congress - "Technologies, issues and policies for sustainable mobility"
Hybrid Vehicles on the Market - Site listing currently manufactured or planned hybrid gas/electric vehicles
The Diesel Stop - Discussion group for all things diesel. Plenty of biodiesel threads
Union of Concerned Scientists - Biodiesel FAQ - the basics of biodiesel

Government Resources

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy - Portal - U.S. DOE main portal.
Reducing Home Heating & Cooling Costs - Gov. Document
Insulation Fact Sheet - DOE information on insulation

Home Heating

Furnaces
BioDiesel - Using BioDiesel in a domestic home oil burner
Mother Earth News - Heat Your Home With BioDiesel

Ground Source Heat Pumps
Geothermal Heat Pumps - EERE informational document describing these systems
GeoExchange - Geothermal heat pump consortium - educational site for high efficiency home heating/cooling systems

Peak Oil

ASPO - Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas
Peak oil reference articles - on ASPO website

Solar Energy

Energy Efficient Renewable Energy - Solar - U.S. DOE Resources relating to solar energy
Florida Solar Energy Center - University of Florida Solar Education Site
Windows - Just like it says! Info on windows

United States Energy Information Agency

Overall analysis of current consumption and production

Transportation

BioDiesel - Organization promoting using organically grown sources for fueling your diesel
GreaseCar - Convert your diesel car to run on recycled veggie oil.

Zero Energy Homes

Florida Zero Energy Homes - Homes designed to produce as much energy as they consume

Homes - Homes designed to produce as much energy as they consume