Alternative Energy Made Personal

Trains to Nowhere…

Driving across 10 states to visit relatives for Christmas was an eye-opening experience. Two days into the trip, as the land began to flatten out; I noticed power plant smokestacks trailing plumes of smoke into the crisp, blue winter sky. Each smokestack was followed by one or more trainloads of coal moving steadily toward each power plant.

I soon found out that a 1,000 megawatt coal fired electric plant burns a mile-long train of coal every day. That equates to 11,000 tons of carbon fuel. The carbon footprint to harvest, transport and burn all that coal is enormous! Multiply that by 365 days each year for each of the 400 plus power plants in the US and you can appreciate the magnitude of the pollution problem surrounding these coal fired power plants. (By the way this is approximately 1.6 billion tons, per day)

Why would you continue to build new plants?

It seems the US does not take all this pollution and the alternative energy challenge seriously because according to the EPA, 159 new coal fired power plants are in the works. Even worse, across the ocean China builds one new coal fired power plant every week.

Time to Take Control

Until the energy hungry corporations and utilities embrace less polluting and more renewable energy options concerned citizens of the world should take steps to reduce energy demand and reduce the need to build some of those planned new coal fired power plants. Small gestures on a grand scale can make a huge difference.

Use these five easy tips to reduce your energy consumption.

• Turn lights off when you are not in the room.
• Replace traditional light bulbs with more energy efficient alternatives. My local power company even sent two free compact fluorescents right to my mailbox.
• Try turning your thermostat down one or two degrees in the winter and up one or two degrees in the summer.
• Turn your hot water heater temperature down a few degrees: most people won’t even notice a difference.
• Don’t leave your porch lights on all night.

My dream is to drive across the US and see only windmills and solar panels instead of smokestacks and coal loaded trains. Using these five strategies is an important first step for all of us in taking control of our carbon destiny.