The news reports estimated that gasoline taxes could be raised on the order of around fifty-percent. Certainly this a substanial change, however if one looks deeper into the matter gasoline taxes have not been raised in a long time. This means our current taxes are out of date and are in much need of being updated.

As some of you may have already known, I am in strong favor of raising the tax gas. I realize our country as well as other places around the World are in an economic recession and the current cheapprice of gasoline is a sigh of relief for many. Nonetheless there has never been a better time over the past few years then now to implement such a plan. By raising the gas taxes, our country will be accomplishing two things at once. These are: changing the way Americans drive and generating additional revenue to repair our infrastructure which is in dire need of repair. 

I urge all of you out there to do whats right for your country. This is certainly one issue that goes beyond whether or not you vote for one party or the other. Get involved today and please contact the politicians working for you and tell them you are in favor of an increase in gasoline taxes.

These incentives are especially suitable for those considering purchasing such systems as photovoltaic solar panels because one can save a considerable amount of money by utilizing the available state grants. Of course these numbers differ by state and with many states in severe budget cuts, it would be advised to further look into these matters before making any decisions.

It just goes to show that by taking advantage of what is out there for the public to benefit from, these otherwise expensive systems cost less for the individual. For further details and information about the incentives found in your state, please check out DSIRE.

It is true that this last piece is often overlooked when considering the above, but it is important to note that it plays just as much of a role as would the creation of a new fuel. The true beauty behind public transportation is that depending on which mode is being traveled with, tens if not hundreds of other passengers are also being carried at any given time period. This reduces the number of automobiles on the road, and thus leads to improvements in air quality due to reduced pollution levels.  

Public transportation is especially important in states with large populations such as California, which has approximately 35 million residents and is expected to grow to nearly 50 million within the next few decades. This factor along with California’s committance to reducing it’s green-house gas emissions has led politicians to bring forth the idea of implementing a high speed rail system.

I’m certain that some of our visitors here have previously heard about the California High Speed Rail System, most likely because of its unprecedented price tag (which is currently estimated to be around $50 billion dollars). Nonetheless, I truly believe this project is fascinating and worthwhile. I’m going to leave out most of the details because I think everyone should check it out for themselves at California High Speed Rail, but I will mention some of the benefits that are related to TheEnergyState.com’s aim. These include: reduction of nearly 13 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions each year (which is roughly equivalent to taking  nearly 1 million vehichles off the road), and lowering our dependence on foreign oil by consuming 12 million barrels of oil less each year.

Certainly there are alot more benefits that go beyond these two things. I ask that all go and please check out the site in the link above for more information. I promise it will be worth your time. Thanks -Jay

*Photo and information courtesy of the California High Speed Rail website.

-TheEnergyState.com

Just last month the mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa announced an ambitious plan that would require one-tenth of the cities electrical needs to be supplied by solar power by the year 2020. This breaks down to roughly 1300 Mega-Watts of electricity, and is the largest such plan of any city Worldwide. The city of Los Angeles plans to accomplish this through the installation of solar panels on commerical and residential buildings, along with expanding existing solar farms.

It is important to point out that there are many skeptics to this project out there who don’t believe it will be a financially viable alternative for the city. In large part solar energy is very expensive and takes many years if not decades to repay the initial investment cost. However by purchasing solar panels we can reduce our dependance on foreign oil, while at the sametime helping our environment become cleaner. I think it is about time for our society to overlook monetary costs in determining whether a project such as this one is worth being constructed. Certainly having a cleaner environment for all to benefit from far outweighs any initial capital cost.

In Robert’s email, he expressed a strong concern that the significant drop in fuel prices will cause people to return to their previous driving habits. He also believed that public transportation ridership levels will  decrease as people will move back towards driving their own vehicles, as this mode is once again affordable. Robert then went on to explain that raising the gasoline tax would help to control wasteful fuel consumption and also maintain the increases in public transportation ridership levels that was shown this past summer.

I must say that I totally agree with Robert. It may be a tough issue for some to stomach (having to pay more at the pumps because of increases in taxes) however an increase in fuel taxes will have numerous benefits. In addition to helping to promote smarter driving patterns, each state will see additional revenue brought in. This is of significant importance because most of the states are facing budget cuts and on top of this, the overall condition of the roadways and bridges within our nation are deteriorating. So this money can then be applied towards the maintenance and repairs/overhauls of this infrastructure.

Thanks again Robert for sharing your email with us.

Certainly, in a way it is. Many people who have been affected by the current economic recession that we are in can now breathe a little more easier because their expenses have essentially been reduced (by the decrease in gasoline prices). These monetary savings can then be re-directed towards other expenses that people must pay. This is a win-win situation for all.

Indeed, reducing the overall expenses by lowering fuel prices for consumers helps people in tough economic times like now. However, it may also lead to careless consumption of these commodities. This past summer brought forth many changes to Americans habits, specifically driving. For the first time in decades, Americans reduced their overall consumption of gasoline because they drove less. Public transportation saw tremendous growth in ridership levels. Along with this, the ideas of both conserving energy and developing alternative energy sources really took off as most Americans sincerely became interested in reducing their fuel consumption. But now with gasoline prices back down; there is the fear that people will start driving significantly more, they will choose to travel less on public transportation systems, and alternative energy ideas will be pushed aside as more important issues are addressed.

This is unquestionably one tough subject matter. It is only a matter of time before gasoline prices rise once again. The time is now to continue pushing forward these ideas about alternative energy sources, otherwise we will have not learned anything from the energy prices we payed only a short time ago.

With an ever increasing population, our nation’s infrastructure is being challenged each and every day. Our nation’s roads, bridges, water supply systems, wastewater systems, and power grids are currently in need of major overhauls to keep up with the demand that is required by the populations that they serve. Relating to this topic of power grids is the issue of peak power. Currently peak power demand is one of the biggest challenges facing utility companies across the United States.

Peak power demand is defined as a period of time when customer consumption of electricity is the greatest. For the most part this period occurs during the hours of late afternoon and early evening when most people are returning home from their day jobs.This actual number associated with peak demand varies from season to season and geography of a particular location, but it usually the largest during the summer months when usage of air conditioning systems is high. This has caused many places like the South Western United States, the Gulf Coast Region, and large cities around the country such as New York City to experience immense strain on their power grids during hot days when consumers are trying to battle the heat.

To meet the demand caused by peak power demand utility companies often resort to firing up older and less efficient power plants, and or purchase electricity on the market. Both of these temporary solutions have negative effects, both environmentally and economically. Less efficient power plants often pollute more when compared to power plants that are used on a continuous basis. In addition to this, consumers are charged higher rates for their electricity usage during peak power demand.

In order to fully solve this problem, air conditioning energy usage must drop. This can be done through either improved energy efficiency and or shifting energy loads to off-peak. One such company called Ice-Energy has applied both of these concepts in its development of an air conditioning system called the Ice Bear.

The principle behind the Ice Bear is simple. A building can be cooled during the day by using electricity consumed during off peak times. This allows for both decreased pressure off the power grid (during peak demand) and also cheaper electricity rates for the consumer. The question then becomes how is this accomplished, and the answer is clear. Ice storage.

The Ice Bear works as follows: The system stores cooling energy at night, by freezing water within an insulated storage tank to create and store cooling capacity for the next day. During the day, the Ice Bear utilizes the energy stored from the previous night to provide cooling by circulating chilled refrigerant from the tank to a modified evaporator coil within the conventional air conditioning system. The energy-intensive compressor within the traditional, high-energy consuming air conditioner remains unused during the day. Ice is then refrozen each night. (Ice Energy). The Ice Bear allows for little to no modification of existing commercial air conditioning systems. No duct work has to be changed, and it was designed to work with both conventional roof top and split system air conditioning systems. This is a significant bonus for any building that is considering installing such a system as it reduces the costs involved with implementing such a device.

Similar systems in New York City have shown ice storage to be a viable alternative to conventional air conditioning systems. The Metropolitan Life Tower in Manhattan recently switched to ice storage for a means of air conditioning and the benefits quickly became clear. “Ice storage lowers the facility’s peak energy use by 900 kilowatts, and reduces overall electric usage by 2.15 million kilowatt-hours annually. This is as good for the environment as taking 223 cars off the streets or planting 1.9 million acres of trees to absorb the carbon dioxide caused by electrical usage for one year.” (CBS News).

At costs ranging from tens of thousands to upwards of millions of dollars, many of these systems will and are primarily used for large scale commercial buildings where energy usage is high and constituents a good majority of a business’s expenses. Over time one can expect smaller models to be developed for the individual home. However, issues about cost and payback for small scale usage might make it impractical for the individual home owner to purchase. It is also important to note that many communities like those found in California, give incentives for businesses to purchase and use this technology.

Like other technologies out there, the Ice Bear and other ice storage systems have some undermining issues with them. Along with the initial high capital cost, there also needs to be sufficient room for the ice storage tanks. In suburban communities where commercial buildings typically have enough open space on their land, this is not so much of an issue. However in any large city, open space around buildings is non-existent. This creates challenges to the engineers who need to find a location on the property for the most critical piece of the system, the ice storage tanks.

The adaption of this technology is a step in the right direction of controlling peak power demand and energy usage. By using ice storage technology, we as consumers can not only curb our appetite for electricity but also help the environment. The usage of systems similar to the Ice Bear will allow for the general masses to still hold on to the same quality of life as before, but with the satisfaction that blackouts will occur less and that there will be significant reductions in air pollution caused by putting more power plants online during peak power demand.

References:

“Hybrid Cooling: How It Works.” Ice-Energy. 2006. 20 Nov. 2008.
                <http://www.ice-energy.com/products/howitworks/tabid/163/Default.aspx>

“The Ice Is Right: Buildings Use Ice-Cooling Systems To Save Money On Air Conditioning During
                Summer.” CBS News.  16 July 2007.  20 Nov. 2008
                < http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/16/tech/main3061798.shtml>

As shown below, the daily pageviews and visitors has been staying relativley consistent over the past three months, which is great considering I have not posted in so long. I anticipate once I start publishing articles on a regular basis again, that these numbers will only go up. So thanks to all of our daily readers who have been waiting very patiently for this site to become active once again.

P.S. New articles will coming out this Monday, so stay tuned.

Thanks -Jay