INFORMATIONAL WEBSITE OF
STATE SENATOR RAYMOND FINNEY,
who proudly represents the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains region of Tennessee--
the Eighth Senatorial District (Blount and Sevier Counties)...


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ENERGY CONSERVATION
Posted on September 25, 2007

Tennessee and the nation need you to help clean up our air and water. Will you do your part? Stop needless use of energy. Conserve our resources and heritage. Save money for your future-- retirement, children's college tuition, or other uses-- and help preserve our environment, instead of foolishly burning it through unneeded energy uses.

TENNESSEE'S CHALLENGE TO PRESERVE THE QUALITY OF OUR AIR AND WATER

As a member of the Senate Environment, Conservation and Tourism Committee, I hear testimony and vote upon Tennessee's energy, conservation, and pollution policy bills. I am concerned about Tennessee's environment, including air and water quality. I want to share some of these concerns with you. More than just raising concerns, I want to offer some simple ways in which you and I can improve both the environment and the economy. Every Tennessean should adopt commonsense measures to reduce energy consumption and environmental pollution. A few of many reasons to conserve energy include:

  • We live in one of the most beautiful areas in the world. We should be alarmed and angered about pollution of our beautiful countryside and its air and streams. Pristine air and water formed part of the heritage passed to us by our early forefathers, and we are squandering that heritage. What will we leave our children?
  • Air pollution has significantly reduced visibility in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park even during my lifetime. Continuing poor visibility will have a negative impact on tourism. Tourists wish to see beautiful mountain vistas, not large expanses of smog obscuring the underlying mountains. Pollution endangers fragile plants and animals in the Park.
  • Breathing polluted air is unhealthy. Persons with heart and lung conditions breathe with more difficulty, as the level of pollution rises.
  • Excessive energy consumption is unwise from a financial standpoint. If you use unneeded energy, it is the same as throwing your money into a bonfire. If you do not need to use energy for a meaningful purpose, your money is burned up in smoke.

EASTERN TENNESSEE'S ENERGY CONSUMPTION PROBLEMS.

Most of our electricity is generated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
  • TVA generates some electricity from non-polluting hydroelectric sources (generators at TVA dams). We probably have dammed all rivers that are suitable for power generation. Increasing hydroelectric power generation is not a realistic solution to meet future energy need increases.
  • TVA generates some power from nuclear power plants. Many persons oppose building more plants. Nuclear power plants are expensive and take years to complete. Generation of electricity from nuclear power plants will likely increase in the future.
  • TVA generates much of its electricity from coal-fired plants. Coal is abundant in the mountainous parts of this region. Unfortunately, coal is an environmentally disastrous fuel source. Burning coal emits large quantities of particulate matter (smoke and soot); greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen oxide (NOx); heavy metals, including mercury; and radioactive elements, including uranium and thorium. Sulfur dioxide combines with rain to form sulfuric acid, which damages our streams and rivers (acid rain). Modern technology reduces the release of fly ash and certain pollutants into the air, but this technology comes at a high price (passed on to consumers in higher rates) and creates environmental problems for disposal.
  • Alternative sources of power generation-- such as, wind and solar-- are not cost effective at the present time. Solar panels suitable for generating electricity are falling in price. In the future, families living in homes with south-facing roofs may be able to generate part of their electricity needs from sunlight falling onto their roofs.

Mining of coal is harmful to the environment in ways other than smokestack emissions. Strip mining partially destroys mountains. Even though "reclaimed," the mountains never look the same. Processing of coal is destructive to streams. For example, coal mines in Virginia have essentially destroyed aquatic life in the Powell and Clinch Rivers in Tennessee, through release of coal "fines" (small coal particles), surfactants, and "proprietary chemicals" into the nearby watershed. Federal and state environmental protection agencies need to do much more to protect these rivers.

WHAT WE CAN AND CANNOT DO ABOUT POLLUTION.

What we cannot do: There are factors over which we presently have little or no control.

  • Eastern Tennessee's geographical setting fosters air pollution. The Tennessee Valley is rimmed by mountains. Pollution from coal-fired plants in Tennessee and the Midwest settling in the valley is not efficiently swept away by brisk wind activity.
  • Interstate diesel-powered truck traffic through the Knoxville Interstate system is very high. This traffic will only increase in the future.
  • Millions of tourists drive motor vehicles to vacation destination sites in Sevier and Blount counties every year, adding to local residents' automobile exhaust.

What we can do: There are factors over which we have control through our governments, power supplier, and personal choices.

  • TVA is reducing smokestack emissions. These efforts come at significant costs to consumers and introduce other environmental problems, though. We should encourage and thank TVA for its continuing and, hopefully, accelerated efforts to reduce air pollution.
  • We need to develop and purchase more fuel-efficient motorized vehicles and reduce unneeded driving.
  • Environmentalists and policy makers tout the addition of ethanol (alcohol) to gasoline (forming "gasohol"). Starch in corn is fermented and distilled to produce alcohol. Gasohol is cleaner burning and reduces toxic exhaust emissions, including greenhouse gases and ozone. Disadvantages include limitation of the amount of corn American farms can produce; high production costs, including transportation of corn to production plants; increased prices for animal and human food and products made from corn; and possible reduction in gas milage. Purchase of ten gallons of gasohol (E-10) translates to purchase of one gallon of ethanol produced from American-grown corn. Research continues at the University of Tennessee to convert economically the cellulose in switch grass, a native grass, into alcohol. Research and evaluation of gasohol continue. The best answer, though, is to purchase more fuel-efficient automobiles and reduce or eliminate unneeded driving.
  • We can produce and purchase more biodiesel. Biodiesel is superior to ordinary petroleum diesel fuel in all aspects. Purchase of ten gallons of biodiesel (B-20) translates to purchase of two gallons of vegetable-based oil produced from American-grown soybeans (or recycled cooking oil). Biodiesel is cleaner burning, reduces exhaust emissions, and reduces engine maintenance. Crushed soybeans remaining after the oil is extracted can be used for high-protein animal feed.
  • When we use gasohol or biodiesel, we support American farmers, rather than OPEC sheiks and dictators; our economy is strengthened; our balance of trade is improved; our national security is enhanced (reduced dependence upon people who hate America); and our air quality is improved.

Although we can do much to improve air pollution from transportation sources, I wish to emphasize in this communication the conservation of energy in the home. I obtained some information from my friends in a Nashville-based group, Kilowatt Ours. Kilowatt Ours has provided excellent testimony before the Senate Environment Committee. I am honored to assist their efforts in public education by publishing this information in my district.

THE AVERAGE FAMILY MAY BE ABLE TO SAVE $600 IN ELECTRICAL POWER COSTS AND REDUCE BURNING OF MORE THAN FOUR TONS OF COAL EVERY YEAR.

Kilowatt Ours suggests ten steps (strategies) that the average homeowner may use to save up to $600 in annual electricity costs ($50 savings per month) and reduce TVA's burning of 8,378 pounds of coal each year (and the environmental pollution such burning creates).

STEP (STRATEGY) DOLLAR SAVINGS1 COAL SAVINGS1
Join the Kilowatt Ours' Net Zero Network to obtain up-to-date information about conservation of energy in the home. Depends upon measures adopted. Depends upon measures adopted.
Perform an energy audit of your home. (See NOTE 1.) Depends upon corrected problems. Depends upon corrected problems.
Replace the five most used incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. (See NOTE 2.) $60 662 lbs
Switch off lights and electronic devices when they are not in use. $65 720 lbs
Adjust the thermostat to 68 degrees in winter and 78 degrees in summer (unless a medical condition might require different settings). $78 864 lbs
As possible, upgrade refrigerator, clothes washer and dryer, and other appliances to ENERGY STAR products. (See NOTE 3.) $85 942 lbs
Improve insulation of your home=s attic, exterior walls, and floors. $137 1,518 lbs
Weatherize (weatherstrip) and seal (caulk) windows, doors, air ducts, and other structural penetration of exterior walls. (See NOTE 4.) $175 1,872 lbs
Finance a home-energy renovation with an Energy Efficient Mortgage. (See NOTE 5.) Depends upon measures adopted. Depends upon measures adopted.
Sign up for green power. (See NOTE 6.) --- 1,800 lbs
TOTAL ESTIMATED ANNUAL SAVINGS $600 8,378 lbs

ABBREVIATIONS: EPA-- Environmental Protection Agency. DOE-- Department of Energy. EIA-- Electronics Industries Alliance.

1Potential annual savings are estimated from U.S. EPA, U.S. DOE, and EIA data and energy costs of the average U.S. household.

For every kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity you conserve, you will cause one pound of coal not to be burned, and you will reduce air pollution by 2 pounds of carbon dioxide.

NOTE 1. Do-it-yourself home energy audits are presented in: Home Energy Saver; or, Energy Efficient Mortgage Home Owner Guide; or, Your Home Contributes to the Quality of Our Environment.

NOTE 2. The compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulb is an important, relatively new product to reduce electricity consumption. The standard incandescent light bulb is inefficient. Electrical current passes through a metallic filament in the bulb, heating it to a glowing temperature. The glow creates the desired light, but most of the electricity creates unwanted heat. In my home, I have replaced nearly every incandescent bulb with CFL bulbs. I am completely satisfied with the quality of light and every aspect of the CFL bulbs' function. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) may light homes in the future, and will use even less energy.

Advantages of CFL bulbs (compared to standard incandescent light bulbs):

  • The primary advantages of CFL bulbs are economy for the homeowner, reduction of demands on the electrical producer, and reduction of atmospheric pollution.
  • CFL bulbs are more expensive, costing approximately 3 to 6 times more than incandescent bulbs. However, CFL bulbs last 8 to 15 times longer and use less than one-fourth as much energy as an incandescent bulb. Over the life of each CFL bulb, up to 30-dollars may be saved in energy costs.

Disadvantages of CFL bulbs (compared to standard incandescent light bulbs):

  • CFL bulbs are most cost-effective, when burned for fifteen minutes or longer. Cost savings are not realized, if the bulb is switched on and off for only a few seconds at a time.
  • CFL bulbs are formed of breakable glass and contain a small amount of mercury. The average CFL bulb contains 5 milligrams of mercury. By comparison, the old mercury thermometers contained 500 milligrams of mercury. Because of the mercury in each bulb, it is prudent to follow the safety procedures of use and disposal and cleanup of a broken bulb, as outlined by the bulb's manufacturer or in ENERGY STAR's Website.

NOTE 3. ENERGY STAR, a joint program of the U.S. EPA and U.S. DOE, saves consumers money and protects the environment through energy-efficient products and practices. In 2006, ENERGY STAR saved greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the operation of 25-million automobiles and saved consumers 14-billion dollars in utility bills. Your home may produce at least twice as much greenhouse gas emissions as your automobile. Energy-efficient choices can reduce a family's utility bill by approximately one-third, without sacrificing features, style, or comfort. Upgrading older refrigerator and clothes washer saves an average of 85-dollars and burning of 942 pounds of coal each year. Typical payback on energy-efficient upgrades ranges from 1 to 5 years. Consider the following:

  • When purchasing new or replacement household products, purchase only products that have earned the ENERGY STAR designation. These products meet strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. EPA and U.S. DOE.
  • When looking for a new home, give strong consideration to one that is an ENERGY STAR home. The homebuilder is aware of present and future energy needs. Choice of energy-efficient utilities may suggest that care in insulation and other energy conservation measures has been followed.
  • If you are ready to remodel your home, the U.S. EPA offers tools and resources to help you plan and undertake projects to reduce your utility bills and improve the comfort of your home.

NOTE 4. A small gap around penetrations of your home's exterior walls (such as, window and door frames) permits hot air to enter your living space in summer and cold air to enter in winter. Caulk is inexpensive, can be applied in minutes, lasts for years, improves comfort, and saves money.

NOTE 5. Read more about these loans at Energy Efficient Mortgage Home Owner Guide.

NOTE 6. "Green power" coal saving is based on purchase of 1 block of TVA Green Power per month. One block of TVA Green Power, costing 4 dollars per month, purchases 150 kilowatt hours (kWh) of green power. It costs more to generate electricity from alternative sources (solar and wind). The "green power" electricity is mixed with traditionally generated electricity, reducing coal burning. It requires one pound of coal to generate one kilowatt hour of electricity. Purchase of 48-dollars per year of TVA Green Power is equivalent to 1,800 pounds (nearly one ton!) of burned coal. Purchase of two blocks of power (96-dollars per year) is the equivalent of planting one acre of trees to remove CO2 from the air. See: Green Power Switch. Green Power pays mostly for expensive startup costs of alternative electrical sources. Once established, green power becomes cheaper and more competitive. Your green power switch is more of a "green power loan" to TVA.

CONSIDER THIS: Consider the economic and environmental impact in just the two counties in my senatorial district. According to 2005 housing-residential data recorded in City-Data.com:

  • In Blount County, there are 32,382 owner-occupied houses and condominiums and 10,285 renter-occupied apartments. If only ten per cent of these households made the recommended conservation changes, these families might save 2.56-million dollars in electricity costs and save burning 35.7-million pounds (17,850 tons) of coal each year.
  • In Sevier County, there are 20,878 owner-occupied houses and condominiums and 7,589 renter-occupied apartments. If only ten per cent of these households made the recommended conservation changes, these families might save 1.71-million dollars in electricity costs and might save burning 23.8-million pounds (11,900 tons) of coal each year.
  • Saved money would benefit families and local community economies. Burning less coal would make our air cleaner.

HOW MUCH CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2) POLLUTION DO YOU CONTRIBUTE TO THE AIR EACH YEAR?

Carbon dioxide (CO2), a major gas pollutant of coal-fired power plants, is a significant contributor to greenhouse gases. Many scientists believe these gases are involved in accelerated global warming. Through living and transportation activities, the average American is responsible for release of approximately 20 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year.

  • Burning one gallon of gasoline generates 20 pounds of carbon dioxide. When you put 40 gallons of gasoline in your SUV, you commit yourself to add 800 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air.
  • If you travel by airplane, your prorated share of carbon dioxide generation is one-half pound per mile traveled.
  • One kilowatt hour generated from a coal-fired plant produces 2 pounds of carbon dioxide. (Burning one 100 watt bulb for ten hours consumes one kilowatt hour of electricity.)
  • For every one hundred cubic feet (ccf) of natural gas you burn, you release 12 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air.

These are your direct contributions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. You should double your direct contribution to account for your indirect contribution to pollution, representing your share of the production and transportation of the food, goods, and services you consume.

At the present time, there is 30 per cent more CO2 in the air than there was at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Although the United States has only 4 per cent of the world's population, we produce 25 per cent of emissions of gases considered as greenhouse gases thought by many to contribute to global warming. Coal-fired electrical power plants release 40 per cent of the entire CO2 output of the United States' pollution burden. Coal-fired plants harm the environment through coal strip mining, processing, and burning. Since much of our electricity in the Tennessee Valley comes from coal-fired plants, our best approach to protect the environment is to use less electricity.

YOUR TURN.

If you have patiently read this far, thank you. It is now your turn to speak.

  • If you would like to communicate online with your neighbors about environmental issues, go to Finney Blog, and offer your comments. I will post online all submissions (with a few restrictions, as noted in the Website). If you would like to read blog comments about the environment submitted by your neighbors, go to Blog Environmental Comments.
  • If you would like to contact me by email, email to this address.
  • If you would like to write me a letter, mail it to:
    State Senator Raymond Finney
    2119 Middlewood Drive
    Maryville, TN 37803-6375.
  • If you would like to call me, my telephone number is (865) 984.1424.
  • Write letters to newspaper editors, urging area residents to conserve energy and protect our environment.

More importantly, it is your turn to reduce your energy consumption!

I present this article to inform you and to encourage you to reduce electricity, gasoline, and natural gas consumption as much as possible in your home and business. You and all of us will benefit from your efforts. This advertisement is paid for by State Senator Raymond Finney, not by state (taxpayer) funds).

OTHER USEFUL WEBSITES:
Tennessee Valley Authority
Powerful money saving ideas from TVA
Water heaters tips
Energy saving tips
TVA sustainable check list