January/February 2002
Feature Articles
What's Newz?
by Dee J. Findlay
Holistic Health Q & A
by John DeCosmo, D.O.
Of September 11, stress, getting back
to basics, and God is in the details.
What are... Sweeteners?
by Robert Roman
Not all sweeteners are "equal."
A healthfood store manager guides us through some of the options.
EnergyUpDate
by David Findlay
UNCOMMON SENSE ! - Who's next?
David Findlay
Minerals from Mother Earth
by Judy Power
Featured stones for January and February:
Onyx and Opal.
Your Astro Guide
by Janet Sciales
Articles on the theme "Freedom"
Freedom From Fear
by Kelly Menges
Freeing ourselves from limiting beliefs
to become connected with our true nature.
No Limits
by Yvette Monet
The freedom to live life as an expression
of love.
Spiritual Freedom
by Rev. Pat Cross
The inner freedom that comes with
the recognition of our divine nature.
Psychological Freedom
by Patrick Plaskett
Increasing our freedom by changing
the reality in our minds.
Hormonal Freedom
by Lela Lilyquist
Of the harmful effects of synthetic
hormone treatment for menopause and the growing awareness of more natural
approaches.
Free To Create
by Ken Sutton
The freedom to create our own lives...
both the good and the bad.
Freedom Within Bounds
by Rev. Stephanie Kubilius
How the boundaries of a relationship,
such as marriage, can actually provide greater freedom to grow.
Seven Basic Freedoms
by Rev. Linda Lou Kearns
Seven ways to exercise our freedom
to become what we really are.
A Free Mind
by Charles Larsen
How we as individuals may restrict
our inner freedom.
The Age of Freedom
by Jan Carter
Of plants and asteroids, gods and goddesses.
The Freedom Solution
by Constance Joy Angeles, Esq.
A nine-step approach to freedom
Energy UpDate
David Findlay
A brand new column. Why? Because Energy is key to a good economy, to much of our foreign policy, and to the "War on Terrorism" quite apart from a healthy environment.
Every year we use more energy. From one report, the increase in our energy consumption is about the same as if each year we added the energy consumption of Taiwan!
The purpose of this column is to explore our energy needs, the kinds of energy we use, where we get this energy from, and possible alternatives. The comments in this issue are an introduction. Future issues will go into more depth.
Energy, in the sense that we are talking about it, is not just energy, it is usable energy. There's plenty of energy all round us but most of it is not is a usable form. The problem is: How to convert some of the energy which is readily available into a usable form.
A glimpse into the future?
The first question, therefore, is: What do we use energy for?
At the risk of over-simplification, there are two main categories: energy converted into electricity, and energy in the form of fuel for transportation. Electricity is by far the more important. We all use electricity every day. An increase in electricity prices affects all of us. Fuel for transportation is, of course, important. Most of us drive or travel by air. And we all use products that have been transported in one fashion or another. However a price increase of a dollar per gallon at the gas station affects us less than an increase of a few cents per kilowatt on our electricity bill.
This distinction is important because we get our energy for electricity and fuel in different ways. A shortage in one does not, therefore, necessarily imply a shortage in the other.
Electricity here in America comes largely from coal, natural gas, nuclear power, and hydro-electric sources. Energy for fuel comes largely from oil refined to become gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
Right away, an important distinction becomes obvious. Energy for electricity comes largely from local sources i.e. from within America (and Canada). Much of our oil comes from abroad 20% or so from Saudi Arabia with critical political and strategic implications.
Since it is the more important, let's start with electricity.
We are used to throwing a switch at home or at work and getting an almost unlimited amount of "juice." We take for granted lighting, air-conditioning, electrical appliances, computers etc., etc. They are just "there." We seldom think of how the electricity gets to us.
The process is a modern miracle one of the "Seven Wonders" of the modern world. It starts with some kind of power plant. This may use combustion, such as the burning of goal or natural gas, to turn a turbine; it may use mechanical energy such as in a hydro-electric plant where the flow of water is directly used to turn a turbine; or it may use energy released through nuclear fission, which again is used to turn a turbine. A turbine is a mechanical wheel with vanes made to revolve by the force of water, steam, or air. The turbine is then used to turn generators that produce the electricity. This electricity has to be used or stored. Storage of electricity is difficult and expensive, so the solution for the most part is to use it. Having to use energy as it is produced poses certain problems and limitations. You may want electricity in the daytime; the power plant may be producing electricity at night. The really clever solution is the Electric Grid. This is a network of pylons and heavy-duty cables that span the country about 500,000 miles of it! This enables electricity from one part of the country to be relayed to wherever it is needed, whenever needed. If Florida Power, for example, "runs out" of power, it can pull from the Grid. And if Florida Power has an excess, it can pump it into the Grid for use wherever it is needed.
The Electric Grid system has advantages and disadvantages which we'll go into in more depth in future issues. Let's here look at the obvious. The advantages are that we can all work as one big happy energy family. You need energy? Sure, you can borrow from me. I need energy? You'll lend me some. For the most part this system works well. There are two main disadvantages: Since the electricity is not stored, if too many people need electricity at any one time, there is the possibility of the Grid not being able to keep up with the demand. And a particularly serious consideration in the current "terrorist" environment the 500,000-mile grid system is very difficult to police. So it's a great system, but far from perfect. Another disadvantage is that the transportation of electricity for miles through heavy-duty cables is not very efficient. Much of the electricity is wasted in the form of heat.
Let's now turn briefly to fuel for transportation. Before cars we had horses not that long ago! Before planes we had ships powered by wind and then steam. Oil was discovered in the 1870s and was mainly used for heating and lighting. Then the internal combustion engine was invented and used to power cars, ships and planes. The rest is pretty much history.
Again, there are advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are obvious. We all appreciate being able to get in our cars and go more or less wherever we please. And most of us fly. Also, goods are shipped to us from all over the world. So what is the downside? Oil has to be extracted and transported to where it is needed. This is a highly complex and expensive process. It is not enough to drill oil wells in the ground or out at sea, but the oil has to be piped into tankers or across land to refineries, from where it has to be transported to where it's going to be used maybe your local gas station. There are all sorts of things that can go wrong with this process. The oil wells themselves can be attacked look at what happened when Iraq invaded Kuwait. And the pipelines and the tankers are vulnerable. Think of what would happen if an oil tanker or two were sunk in the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, or if a key oil pipeline, say in Alaska, were seriously damaged.
We have an energy production system that works, but one which is extremely vulnerable.
The key questions are: Can we, or should we, develop alternative energy production systems, either to replace the existing systems or to supplement them? If the answer is yes, then how should we go about it? I believe that the answer is yes, on both counts, and that's what future columns in this Energy UpDate series will be about.
I'd just like to stress here that this should be a top priority for the federal government, for local government, and for us as private individuals. It is not wise for us in the current "terrorist environment" to take our energy for granted. There are alternatives to "cheap" oil from the Middle East. And there are alternatives to fossil fuels that pollute the environment. All it takes is the determination and the will.
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