The short-term cost of petroleum-based fuel is erratic and unpredictable, but over the long-term, it has been on a steady upward trend that has been slowly eating away at the pocket books and bank accounts of every American. As the reality of peak oil hits and perpetual war in the Middle East turns from worst-case
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Like many other alternative energy industries, solar energy companies suffer from one major problem: the cost of production is simply too high for solar energy to take place on a large scale. Federal subsidies exist to alleviate some of the cost associated with solar, but these are largely misguided subsidies that favor a few companies
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For all the intrepid pioneers who have left the grid behind and are making a go of it on their own, wood stoves are one of the best options available anywhere on the home heating scene. While dependence on the grid leaves us at the mercy of others, wood burning represents the ultimate example of self-sufficiency in action: if you are willing to get out there into the forest with your pickup, your chainsaw, your maul, a couple of wedges, and your trusty ax, laziness and a poor work ethic are the only things that
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It simply is not feasible for every American family to keep the house on high heat all winter, especially for families that live in areas where winter can last for several months. With some prep work prior to cold weather setting in, however, it is possible to significantly cut the electricity bill and generally make your home more fit for winter conditions. Certain parts of the home require more insulation than others, depending on the size of your home and the materials used to build it. About half of the heat that your home loses
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We have all heard the one about how if you dig a hole straight down into the earth, eventually you come out the other side of the planet in China. While theoretically this might be true, in the real world it would not be possible. If the tremendous pressures you would encounter didn’t do you in, the intense heat ultimately would, and at a certain depth all of your excavation and drilling equipment would melt (and you would too). As we travel downward it gets hotter and hotter, and this precludes digging all the way
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Building styles designed to minimize energy use by providing plentiful amounts of natural light, passive solar energy for the purposes of heating, and free and easy ventilation to facilitate cooling in summer are the “in” thing these days. But while these “new” construction methods have been receiving a tide of favorable publicity, and leaving “green”
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In a country that is working to establish energy independence, every energy possibility is being thoroughly explored in the hopes of finding oil’s replacement. Wind and solar face issues with being incorporated into the national electricity infrastructure and still don’t provide as much electricity as they could. With as much attention as electricity-generating energies like wind and solar get from the media, exciting and yet less glamorous possibilities like algal biofuels fall by the wayside. One of the most promising characteristics of algal biofuel production is the rapid rate of cell reproduction that occurs, making
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Man’s ability to harvest the earth’s immense bounty has been the key to human prosperity and societal development over the past several thousand years. Even when once-mighty empires have crumbled and formerly dominant cultures and peoples have fallen into obscurity, new societies have always risen from the ashes to achieve unique and remarkable things. Unquestionably,
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Every president since Ronald Reagan has promised to achieve American energy independence, and each president has failed. It is time to put an end to the rhetorically powerful speeches that promise energy independence and adapt real strategies that can achieve pragmatic change. These changes will not begin and end with the president: they will begin
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Our government has clearly demonstrated subpar judgments when choosing energy companies or fields to invest in, and the fallout from the Solyndra debacle has not just affected solar companies. People are watching every loan, grant, and loan guarantee that the government hands out with increased scrutiny, hoping to avoid investing billions more of taxpayer dollars in a failing company again. And for the most part, that impulse is a good one. The government should have a limited role in subsidizing energy development, if at all. The one exception to that standard is our development of
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