With the strain on household income continually increasing and energy cost on the rise it is easy to feel helpless.  Obviously that gets us nowhere so what can we actually do? Until a few days ago I had no clue until a segment came on NPR that enlightened me. There is a group of elected officials we all need to know about! The Corporation Commission. It is a panel of 5 individuals who do everything from set the price rates for your electricity, natural gas, phone, private water companies as well as inspect railroad tracks and license security brokers.  There is an upcoming election so if you care about the cost of energy and our sources of energy you should pay attention to who is running for the three open seats on the Corporation Commission.

What’s at stake? The Renewable Energy Act: the current regulations in place that require 15% of our electricity come from renewable resources by 2025.  There are a lot of people vying for your vote on both sides of this issue so here is a bit of information to help you make your decision and get the ball rolling for your own research into the candidates. The primary election is Tuesday, Sept. 2nd.

Fowlkes (Republican): Against Renewable Energy Act: would replace it with incentives for utilities to use renewable energy and focus on competition between providers

Hobbs (Republican): Against Renewable Energy Act: supports allowing utilities to spread their investment over a longer period of time

Swapp (Republican): Against Renewable Energy Act: favors a free-market approach and focus on competition over regulation

Wong (Republican): Uphold Renewable Energy Act: “the long term impact of solar and renewable will be constant while fuels like natural gas and others will continue to spike up”

Allen (Republican): Against Renewable Energy Act: says the technology to make this change does not exist and worries these regulations will have too great a cost on low income people and seniors

McClure (Republican): Undecided on the Renewable Energy Act: would not try to repeal or expand it “never second guess the future”

Robson (Republican): Uphold Renewable Energy Act: (I was asked to change this and clarify that Robson and Stump hold the same views, I must have misunderstood what they said so please listen to their interviews on the NPR stories at the bottom of this post to discern for yourself where they stand, thanks and I apologize for the confusion.) considers it to be a goal and if it can be met it should stay in place. It should be reviewed on an annual basis and what challenges it brings about.

Stump (Republican): Against Renewable Energy Act: (see above) should be a goal not a regulation so market conditions and technology dictate the success of the goal

George (Democrat): Uphold Renewable Energy Act: advocates solar for long term but in the mean time suggests stressing efficiency for individuals – installing smart meters, etc

Kennedy (Democrat): Uphold Renewable Energy Act: focuses on the importance of solar power but wants to make sure seniors and low income people will benefit rather than have added costs

Newman (Democrat): Uphold Renewable Energy Act: wants to “bring clean energy to the table” and implement the renewable energy act to represent consumers and be fair to the utility companies

Kelty (Democrat): Uphold Renewable Energy Act: sees the primary role of the Corp. Comm. as protecting the consumers, “we cannot afford the cost of inaction”

Click on the candidate names above to be taken to their websites.

Click here to listen to the NPR breakdown of the Democratic Candidates

Click here to listen to the NPR breakdown of the Republican Candidates

Click here to view the Arizona Republic Candidate Q & A (not all candidates included)

Click here to read “Candidates’ Expenses Questioned” from the AZ Republic

As Congress looks ahead to its August recess, thousands of workers in America’s wind and solar energy companies are looking ahead to something very different — possible layoffs.

It’s time to pick up the phone.

It’s stunning that layoffs could happen in such a high growth sector. But it’s what we can expect if Congress fails to extend the tax incentives that are key to getting these new industries established.

Please call your Senators right now at the numbers below.

* Make sure they know you are one of their constituents.
* Ask them to support the tax incentives for renewable energy in bill S. 3335.
* Tell them it is essential that these incentives pass before the recess. Waiting longer will cause a significant loss of momentum for these industries.

You can reach your Senators at these numbers:

Senator McCain: 202-224-2235
You may also contact Senator McCain through his website by clicking here.

Senator Jon Kyl: 202-224-4521
You may also contact Senator Kyl through his website by clicking here.

America can lead the way in producing electricity from sources that do not contribute to global warming. Doing so would revitalize our economy, make us more secure and help solve the climate crisis. We need the Senate to act.

Unless you live on mars you’ve probably noticed the soaring cost of fuel. A recent report from the Energy Information Administration projects that gasoline demand will drop in the U.S., but even so prices are still climbing. Why is it happening and why are diesel prices going up faster then gas? I’ve been looking into some articles to find some answers.

This blog post from Eric Johnson over at Desert Biofuels Initiative sums up what is going on with links to even more information.

According to the Energy Information Administration:

Based on projections of weak economic growth and record high crude oil and product prices, consumption is projected to decline by 190,000 bbl/d in 2008 [...] After accounting for projected increases in ethanol use, U.S. petroleum consumption is projected to fall by 330,000 bbl/d.

So if demand is falling, why are prices rising dramatically?

World oil consumption is projected to grow by 1.2 million bbl/d in 2008. Almost all of the growth in 2008 is expected to come from the non-Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, led by China, Middle East oil producing countries, and Russia, as well as Brazil and India [...]

more than offsetting any decline in demand in the US.

Bummer for us. Of course, it’s also great for us. Fuel prices are starting to more directly affect individual driving decisions, consumer vehicle preferences, and therefore auto manufacturer’s vehicle production. Business Week reports:

Ford Motor (F) is cutting its production of its one-time cash cows, pickups and SUVs, to instead increase production of smaller and more fuel-efficient cars.

And the New York Times reports:

With technical and environmental hurdles overcome — and facing tougher mileage standards that call for a 35 m.p.g. average by 2020 — automakers are rushing in with clean-diesel cars.

Nice.

[Desert Biofuels Initiative]

While it is great we’re going to be seeing new clean diesels on the market soon with higher MPGs than most gasoline cars are they going to be a success? As of this writing Diesel is around a dollar more per gallon than regular unleaded and its price is rising faster than gasoline. Gasoline and diesel are made from the same raw ingredient. So why is this happening? Here’s a good article explaining why from the New York Times.

“U.S. overall petroleum demand, including demand for gasoline, has flattened,” he said. “However, in the U.S., demand for diesel has remained strong.”

He added: “This follows a long-term trend here and around the world. Over the past five years, U.S. demand for highway diesel has been rising at triple the rate of gasoline.”

Part of the American demand for transportation fuel is met by refineries in Europe, a link that usually helps keep prices down. But demand for diesel is rising in Europe as passenger car ownership and use there grow; many of those newly purchased vehicles are diesel-powered, a choice that had been encouraged by tax policy there.

As a result, production at European refineries is geared toward processing crude oil to meet the demand for diesel. That produces surplus gasoline, which the refineries export to the East Coast of the United States, experts said. That does nothing for diesel supply here.

A related problem is that while American demand for gasoline and demand for diesel are fluctuating separately, the supply is linked.

Each 42-gallon barrel of crude oil yields about 19 gallons of gasoline, according to the Energy Department, and about 10 gallons of diesel fuel and heating oil combined. (The two are chemically similar.) Refineries can crack the big hydrocarbon molecules found in the heavier part of the crude oil feedstock into diesel, gasoline or other products, and thus have some flexibility, but there are limits to how much the ratios can be adjusted.

Read the full article at [nytimes.com]

Maybe it is time to start home-brewing biodiesel like I suggested in a earlier article on this site, but be sure you have a secure source of free or cheap used oil. It seems that demand for this waste product is on the rise and some home-brewers are stooping low and are stealing it. Check out this article over at msnbc.com about biodiesel pirates stealing used cooking oil.

SAN FRANCISCO – A few years ago, drums of used french fry grease were only of interest to a small network of underground biofuel brewers, who would use the slimy oil to power their souped-up antique Mercedes.

Now, restaurants from Berkeley, Calif., to Sedgwick, Kan., are reporting thefts of old cooking oil worth thousands of dollars by rustlers who are refining it into barrels of biofuel in backyard stills.

“It’s like a war zone going on right now over grease,” said David Levenson, who owns a grease hauling business in San Francisco’s Mission District. “We’re seeing more and more people stealing grease because it lets them stay away from the pump, but it’s hurting our bottom line.”

Full article at [msnbc.com]

Do you think this might end up being good for us? Is it going to drive Americans to conserve and innovate to find a solution? I think it might, and can’t wait to see where we go from here. What do you think? Leave a comment and let us know.

Where I live in Arizona it’s already getting hot with triple digit weather coming at us next week. Air conditioning (A/C) is pretty much a necessity in the desert and power bills of $200 to even $400 are all too common. What can we do to keep our houses cooler and use less of the A/C so that we can save energy and money? No, I’m not going to say, sell your house and build an earth ship or get a home that is actually designed to stay cool with passive cooling, thermal mass, etc. That would be nice in an ideal world, but most of us are already in conventional homes. Our styrofoam and stucco outer walls are built as cheaply as possible and designed by a developer that didn’t care much about how energy efficient the home was. If we were smart (or lucky) we at least bought a home that was orientated advantageously, with the long part of the house facing north and south. This orientation allows for the most shading of the house during those long, hot summer days as long as the roof hangs over enough to shade the south.

Also if we were smart (or lucky) we bought a house with a minimal number of windows on the east and west sides, where the morning and late afternoon sun can penetrate deeply into a house. In the picture above you can see the late afternoon sun flooding this house with heat. Here is an example of how orientation makes a difference. The City of Davis California conducted a study where for one year, they took readings from minimum and maximum thermometers inside the unoccupied units of two identical 2-story apartment buildings with one difference, one was orientated with the long walls on the north and south and the other east and west, the north south apartment stayed 24 degrees cooler in the summer, and 17 degrees warmer in the winter. This was done without the use of A/C or heating, Wow! If you are moving or looking for a house this is important to keep in mind.

Okay, so most of us aren’t house shopping and are already in our houses. We’re not moving anytime soon so we have to work with what we have. Here are some tips for doing that.

• Windows account for 1/2 of a home’s summer temperature increase. Install white mini-blinds or shutters and keep them closed when the sun is hitting the glass. These can reduce solar gain by 40% – 50%.

• If you have curtains close them on windows that receive direct sunlight.

• Install awnings on south facing widows if the roof overhang doesn’t block all the sunlight from reaching the windows.

• Install sunscreens on the exterior of windows that receive direct sunlight to block sun from reaching the glass. These block as much as 60% – 80% of the sun’s heat from reaching the glass. Get a few quotes from licensed contractors, prices can vary quite a bit.

• If your HOA won’t let you do sunscreens or awning or they cost too much money, you can apply Heat Control Window Film on the glass to reflect much of the heat from direct sunlight. Heat control film is relatively inexpensive and reflects much of the sun’s heat.

• Check windows and door frames for any hot air leaking in and seal them with caulk or weather striping.

• Plant shade trees along the north, east, and west sides of the house to shade it from direct sunlight.

• If your house needs to be painted choose lighter colors that will reflect more heat. HOAs usually forbid certain colors, so check with them first.

• Use Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs) inside. CFLs use 75% less energy and produce 75% less heat than incandescent light bulbs which saves on cooling costs.

• Set the thermostat to as high as you can tolerate. According to the SRP’s web page every degree over 80 saves you 2-3% on cooling costs.

• Use ceiling fans or other fans to circulate air in your house. This helps you feel cooler so you can put the thermostat higher.

• Replace or clean your A/C’s intake filter once a month to allow for greater airflow.

• Use a microwave, toaster oven, stove-top or counter top grills instead of the oven during the day. The heat produced by the oven makes the A/C work harder to cool the house. You could also try a solar oven or grill and cook outside. Here are some plans for making your own solar oven very inexpensively. [solarcooking.org]

• Turn on the exhaust fan in your bathroom when taking a hot shower. This removes much of the humid air produced by the shower. As you probably know humidity makes it feel warmer.

• If it’s still cool enough at night, usually 77 degrees or less, open your windows to vent the house. Close them up in the morning to seal in the cool air. When we do this at my house the A/C usually doesn’t kick on until late afternoon. Using some sort of window fan can help bring in the cool air.

• Have your A/C serviced once a year to make sure it’s running at it’s peak efficiency.

• Keep your A/C’s condensing unit shaded to help it run more efficiently, but more importantly make sure it has plenty of airflow. The condenser in the picture to the right could use some shade from a tree or bushes

• Install a Solar Attic Fan to vent your house’s attic. If your attic gets hotter than the peak outdoor temperature, an attic fan can vent this extra heat and save you money on cooling costs.

• Upgrade the insulation in your attic. SRP has a good FAQ on whether you might benefit from more attic insulation [here].

• Install solar panels. This will cost a lot up front if you buy them outright, but after a few years they’ll pay themselves off. Leasing panels is another option. Your electric bill will be much lower for the life of the panels which is up to 30 years or so.

What else can we do to keep cool in the summer and save some energy? Leave a comment and let us know.

Maybe we won’t have to wait until 2010 to get a car that doesn’t run on gasoline. The Th!nk City electric car is going into production in the US and should be popping out cars soon. The perfect combo might be solar panels for your house and this electric car for your commute.

This could be it: the Th!nk City electric car, a four-seater with 110 mile range and top speed of 65 mph, priced under $25,000, made from 95% recyclable materials, and available in the U.S. in 2009.

The Th!nk City electric car is the product of Norwegian firm Th!nk Global, an auto manufacturer backed by Silicon Valley funding who has plans to assemble the cars in Southern California. In contrast to Tesla’s limited release of 300 cars per year, the Th!nk City is designed for mass production to the tune of 30-50,000 units within a few years. Th!nk already produces about 10,000 of these cars in Europe annually. [Gas 2.0]

Th!nk’s Website.