Energy Matters

Electric vs. Internal Combustion Cars We were compelled a few months back to view a documentary about “green energy” produced by a renowned liberal documentary-maker.  Unaccountably, its writer/director undertook to essentially debunk the notion of green energy, by “revealing” various trade-offs and ironies and implying that believers in shifting to renewables and reducing carbon foot-prints were all being hood-winked -- or hood-winking the naive liberals.  A poorly researched piece of work, the narrative relied on ignorant testimony, almost zero data, and abundant inflammatory innuendo and imagery.  One of its supposedly profound revelations was that electric vehicles are virtually no better than internal combustion engine (ie. gas-burning) vehicles because they run on electricity generated largely by fossil fuels.   If you have been following our column you will guess that this is the kind of statement that drives us crazy enough to have to write a column....

The Little Things: How Big Are They? Most of us these days are concerned about how we use energy.  We tend to be aware of a light left on or a cell phone charger left plugged in.  So we turn the light off or unplug the charger and tell ourselves we have made a difference.  If you have been following our columns you may well guess the next question: HOW MUCH DIFFERENCE?  Compared to what?  Let's start with some basics on electricity usage.  When you buy electricity, it comes in units of kilowatt-hours (kWh).  Your electric appliance or device uses energy at a rate determined by its wattage (e.g. a 100 W light bulb). So, wattage is the RATE at which it uses energy. To get the AMOUNT of energy it uses (kWh), divide the wattage by 1000 and multiply it by the hours it is used. If a 100-watt incandescent bulb is left on for 5 hours it uses 100W/1000, or 0.100 kW.  Multiplied by 5 hours this comes to the amount of 0.5 kWh.  It will cost you  ab...