Canton Repository, OH
07-15-06
Make changes to conserve energy and save money
By Peter Rowe Copley News Service
Advertisement
BEIJING - The United States, South Korea and China all have energy policies.
Why don’t you?
Recently, during a whirlwind trip sponsored by Honolulu’s East-West Center,
reporters explored the challenges facing three of the world’s great energy
consumers. Experts issued glum predictions:
n Ruthless competition for oil and natural gas, the fuels that provide nearly twothirds of the world’s energy needs.
n Even higher prices at the gas pump.
n Revived interest in nuclear power; coal, “clean” or otherwise; and renewable
resources, such as solar, wind and geothermal.
Clearly, nations need energy policies. Yet nations don’t pay $100 to fill up the
sport utility vehicle. People do.
So why not adopt a personal energy policy, one tailored to meet your specific
goals? Patriots may wish to reduce America’s reliance on imported oil.
Environmentalists may strive to spew out less pollution. Everyone is eager to
save money, especially with gasoline costing around $3 a gallon.
Here are tips that will help you save money in your home, car and workplace.
AT HOME
Green leaves, appliances
Americans are great planters of trees, whose shady branches can lower
temperatures — and the cost of air conditioning — in adjacent homes and office
buildings. Moreover, the leaves can absorb up to 15 percent of greenhouse gas
emissions.
The United States is also a leader in setting national standards for power-stingy
household appliances, awarding qualifying products with the “Energy Star” label
— a move that South Korea has imitated.
The Easy Saver
Actually, this would be a snap, if the gizmo were available in the States. It’s not,
yet, although it’s needed here. Around the world, in fact, TVs, computers and
other household devices suck up electricity even when they are turned off.
Easy Saver acts like a roadblock. Slip this little gizmo between the wall socket
and your appliances. When you turn off your TV or computer, the energy no
longer flows.
While this cuts household electricity consumption by about 11 percent, Eun-Koo
Lee of the Korea Energy Management Corp. argues the product could be easier
to use. “It’s very inconvenient to have to plug it into the wall,” he said. “The goal
is to have it built into the devices.”
Food for thought
Matthew R. Simmons is a Houston-based banker to the oil industry and an
adviser to President Bush. So it’s a shock to hear his Al Gore-like message of
looming oil shortages and the need for creative conservation techniques.
One of the most creative: chart your “food miles” and buy local produce, meats
and dairy products.
This is a global issue. This summer, Simmons notes, 80 percent of the apples in
British markets will come from New Zealand.
“That’s 22,000 miles of travel,” he said.
But Americans, in particular, are accustomed to supermarkets stocked with
Chilean nectarines, South African grapes, Mexican tomatoes, Australian wines.
What one scholar calls “the journey from field to fork” consumes growing
amounts of fuel — a 50 percent increase between 1977 and 1999.
Few people seemed concerned about that, until last year, when Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast and demonstrated how quickly a
region can be left to its own resources.
“I used to get a call a week,” said Rich Pirog, who studies food miles for Iowa
State University’s Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. “I get about
two a day now.”
Pirog and Andrew Benjamin, an Iowa State student, discuss food miles in a
paper that is posted online at www.leopold.iastate.edu/pubs.
IN YOUR CAR
Increased mileage
In the U.S., passenger cars averaged 13 miles per gallon in 1973, the year of
the first great oil crisis. By 1991, that average had climbed to 21 — despite the
introduction of smog-reducing catalytic converters and reformulated gasolines.
You’re already keeping your car tuned and your tires properly inflated, both
important ways to squeeze more miles out of each gallon of gas. Next, replace
your dirty air filter for a 10 percent mileage boost. Then dump the junk in your
trunk — for every 50 pounds you shed, expect a 1 percent mileage dividend.
Drive strategically
Simmons frets about “the one biggest waste of oil — traffic congestion.” The
Texas banker advocates flex time and telecommuting, so armies of workers do
not clog the roads in the morning and evening rush hours.
“We need to restructure the way we move goods and people,” he said.
Moreover, combine your errands and trips to limit your time behind the wheel.
AT WORK
Seize the day
Some office managers are scheduling the cleaning crew for daylight hours, then
turning off the building’s lights at night. At the Sacramento headquarters of the
California Environmental Protection Agency, for instance, this step trimmed 8
percent from its electric bill.
Stretch your legs
If you work in a multistory building, adopt the 2-1 rule. Skip the elevator and walk
if you are descending no more than two floors or climbing no more than one floor.
SEE THE LIGHT
In the Cal EPA building, every other overhead light fixture is dark. China is
limiting urban “beautification projects” that involve electrical displays. “This
consumes a lot of power,” said Qin Gang, a deputy director in the Foreign Affairs
Ministry.
Love the light? Urge your company to install a power regulator/voltage stabilizer,
which eliminates power spikes and fluctuations building-wide, thus cutting power
costs. Best of all, it’s automatic. “You’re not relying on human behavior, which is
variable,” said Cal EPA’s Theresa Parsley.