Essay on Energy Planning Proposal

Water Pollution: Clean drinking water is becoming a rare commodity. Water is becoming an economic and political issue as the human population fights for this resource. One of the options suggested is using the process of desalinization. Industrial development is filling our rivers seas and oceans with toxic pollutants which are a major threat to human health.

The United States is the second largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world, and yet is doing very little to fix this startling statistic (Dennis). The US’ reliance upon outdated energy sources continues to harm both the environment and the economy by producing millions of tonnes of pollution every year and costing the government billions of dollars (“Fact Sheet: Clean Power Plan”). Fossil fuels have been the main energy sources in America since the industrial revolution, and it is time to make a change. Renewable energy is energy harnessed from sources like the sun, wind, or water, and has little to no negative effects on the environment (“Renewable Energy Technology Basics”). The United States needs to integrate and increase the use of these types of energy across the country, as well as implement positive environmental policies, to prevent further pollution of the earth and combat the effects of climate change.

On the daily basis I use numerous energy resources from residential, commercial, transportation to industrial. First, I use residential and commercial the most. At home I have gas heating, stove and fireplace; gas pretty much runs my house. Right now in the winter month’s gas heating is the greatest energy usages in my resident. Then on top of that we have space heaters. The heaters are intended to cut back on the gas usage but I’m not seeing much of a difference. Usage of electricity is also a huge abundance in my residents. A normal routine of using electricity varies from everything like lights

As I acknowledged earlier, heating is the highest percentage of usage in the home, however homeowners can take steps towards reducing that. For example, buying a heater or two can definitely help in reducing the use of heat. The second highest electric usage in homes is cooling, which can also be reduced if homeowners invest in a fan, leave windows open, or even install a ceiling fan. Buying both heaters and/or fans may be a bit pricey but worth it in the long run. Another thing that ups the electric cost is the use of electronics and appliances. Today, our society revolves around electricity. We leave the television on in an empty room, leave on the computer when we don’t use it, etc., consequently raising the electric price. We also rely on many appliances such as refrigerators, microwaves, blow dryers, etc., which also raise the price. By simply remembering to turn off the television when leaving the room and also turning off the computer when not in use will help reduce the electricity cost. Also, chargers for laptops and cell phones, consume energy when they are plugged in even when they are not in use, and should be unplugged. Even though lighting is only 11% of electrical usage every little bit helps. Such as, remembering to turn the light off after leaving the room and

To improve upon these figures, Resolution 20140410-024 was supported in 2015 with Austin’s community climate plan “Net-Zero.” Spearheaded by the Community Climate Steering Committee, “Net-Zero” lays the framework for both the local government and community to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to near zero. Up to this point all city owned buildings and facilities are 100% reliant on renewable energies such as solar and wind energy. Pending projects will increase solar energy by 149 MW and wind energy by 400 MW. Figure shows Austin’s energy generation goals achieved by 2020.

Author Lawrence M. Ling is a Project Pull Mentor’s Assistant in the Policy and Government Affairs Team of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. He is an undergraduate student at the University of California: Los Angeles who majors in Political Science, and he strongly believes that CleanPowerSF is the best solution to the growing trend of global warming.

The Annapolis city government has aimed to reduce emissions by 75% by the year 2025 as well as achieve carbon neutrality by the year 2050 (Savidge 2010). In order to achieve these goals, the city government has committed to reducing energy usage by 10% in public facilities by 2017 and 15% by 2020 (Savidge 2010). The city government also plans to achieve 25% of their energy from renewable sources as well as providing greener and more energy efficient upgrades to public facilities and city transportation (Savidge 2010). The Annapolis community has aimed to reduce emissions by 50% by the year 2025 as well as achieve carbon neutrality by the year 2050 (Savidge 2010). The community has been and will continue to actively encourage locals to purchase green and renewable energy, use alternative forms of transportation, increase recycling and reduce trash production, and to preform energy efficiency upgrades (Savidge 2010). Such efficiency upgrades could take place in the form of financing home energy improvements, energy efficient mortgages, energy smart schools, or zero interest loans for energy conservation and “green energy projects (Roseland 2012).” Mark Roseland published a paper on sustainability “solutions for citizens and their governments” that outlines the benefits that simple energy efficient upgrades can achieve (Roseland 2012). He states examples where residents can save over $1000 each year on oil, gas, and electric bills while reducing their emissions through local

Conference Focus: Implement a new policy within five years to move into renewable energy, with a focus on solar power, while decreasing the use of fossil fuels. This policy will examine the barriers to implement new renewable energy technologies that will decrease the carbon dioxide emissions and identify ways to overcome these barriers through incentives, tax breaks, and attitudinal changes.

The average household in Northern VA spends nearly $1,584 on energy consumption. This is higher than the national average but similar to our neighboring states (EIA.gov, n.d.). This is due highly to a lack of energy conservation education provided by the state and lack of government backed refunds and tax breaks for using energy efficient appliances. States like California and Maryland have started these governments funded programs and experienced great strides in lowering energy consumption (Cluett, Amann, & Ou, 2016).

According to Nielsen, in the United States approximately 40% of residential consumers are using less energy than consumers in 1970 (Consumers Want Energy Efficiency, 2015). Approximately 76% of consumers plan on doing something about their high utility bills in the next three years. Consumers are planning on spending up to $240 million to do just that (Consumers Want Energy Efficiency, 2015).

Some of the ways to spend less money on energy is to use Energy-Star appliances. Their energy efficient and can save 30% to 80% on our electricity bill. Thats adds up to $50 or more than $100 in annual savings.

In my house, I always try to conserve energy when I can. I try an hot water by using a lower flow shower head and very rarely use the bath tub which does waste a lot of hot water. When buying light bulbs, I only buy LED light bulbs for the lights in my house. I keep the thermostat below 75 degrees when it is cold out even if that means needing to use extra blankets. There are many other things that I can do to conserve energy. Some of these things would be to turn off any electrical devices when I am not using them and upgrading some appliances that may be out of date, as the newer ones are usually more energy efficient.

energy costs going into summer. Even better, what can be done without spending a lot of money?

How energy efficient you want your home to be is up to you. Simple changes can go a long way. Magnolia Property Consultants will help you to understand energy efficiency as well as the areas in your home you should focus on. Leaky windows or poor insulation are things that could become very costly in the near future. Finding out about them before you buy your home and getting them fixed saves you time and

For one thing, simple lifestyle changes can save kilowatts of electricity. One of these involves turning off the lights and electrical appliances when leaving a room. Shutting off computers can save watts – turning them off at night, and having them hibernate during the day if not in use is a good way to save energy