The United States and New York City currently sucks at how it uses energy.
Did you know that “WE” currently waste 56% of all the energy in the U.S. Economy. (Those numbers are from the New York Times)
And that for each dollar of economic product, the United States spews more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than 75 of 107 countries tracked in the indicators of the International Energy Agency.
Those doing it better than us include not only cutting-edge nations like Japan but low-tech countries like Thailand and Mexico.
(Could you imagine any of those countries beating us in the Olympics?)
True, energy efficiency has improved, especially in states like California. But American drivers, households and businesses still use more energy than those in most other rich countries to do the same thing.
Over 35% of all electricity used in a typical building goes towards lighting according to the EPA. Yet we are hardly doing anything significant in this area and we probably have some of the most inefficient buildings on the planet.
The nation has over 5 Million commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings and they spend over $35 billion a year just in electricity bills to operate their lighting systems alone.
Surely, we can do more with less in this area.
The United States spends more energy to produce a ton of cement than Canada, Mexico and even China. It is also one of the most energy-intensive makers of pulp and paper, emitting more than three times as much carbon dioxide per ton as Brazil and twice as much as South Korea.
Per-capita carbon dioxide emissions by households in the United States are the highest in the world and the energy efficiency of electricity production from fossil fuels is lower in the United States than in most rich countries and even some poor ones, mainly because of the higher share of coal in the mix.
A study by McKinsey & Company last year argued that most of the carbon abatement needed between now and 2030 could be achieved with existing technologies.
Technologies like insulating homes, improving Fuel, Lighting, Wiring, Refrigeration and HVAC efficiency.
A quantum jump in energy efficiency will still require political leadership.
We are getting that tomorrow with Obama and we are also lucky in NYC by having Bloomberg as Mayor but we are just at the beginning of this journey.
Cheap energy has kept America from making the necessary investments. Yet they must be made; neither the country nor the atmosphere can wait for high tech to ride to the rescue.
To paraphrase Obama:
“We must be the change we are waiting for”
I am setting up a new venture called Pentacle Energy to focus on these areas in the Commercial Real Estate here in NYC.
Time for me to walk the talk – What are you going to do to make America and the world a better, cleaner place to live?
Did you know that “WE” currently waste 56% of all the energy in the U.S. Economy. (Those numbers are from the New York Times)
And that for each dollar of economic product, the United States spews more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than 75 of 107 countries tracked in the indicators of the International Energy Agency.
Those doing it better than us include not only cutting-edge nations like Japan but low-tech countries like Thailand and Mexico.
(Could you imagine any of those countries beating us in the Olympics?)
True, energy efficiency has improved, especially in states like California. But American drivers, households and businesses still use more energy than those in most other rich countries to do the same thing.
Over 35% of all electricity used in a typical building goes towards lighting according to the EPA. Yet we are hardly doing anything significant in this area and we probably have some of the most inefficient buildings on the planet.
The nation has over 5 Million commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings and they spend over $35 billion a year just in electricity bills to operate their lighting systems alone.
Surely, we can do more with less in this area.
The United States spends more energy to produce a ton of cement than Canada, Mexico and even China. It is also one of the most energy-intensive makers of pulp and paper, emitting more than three times as much carbon dioxide per ton as Brazil and twice as much as South Korea.
Per-capita carbon dioxide emissions by households in the United States are the highest in the world and the energy efficiency of electricity production from fossil fuels is lower in the United States than in most rich countries and even some poor ones, mainly because of the higher share of coal in the mix.
A study by McKinsey & Company last year argued that most of the carbon abatement needed between now and 2030 could be achieved with existing technologies.
Technologies like insulating homes, improving Fuel, Lighting, Wiring, Refrigeration and HVAC efficiency.
A quantum jump in energy efficiency will still require political leadership.
We are getting that tomorrow with Obama and we are also lucky in NYC by having Bloomberg as Mayor but we are just at the beginning of this journey.
Cheap energy has kept America from making the necessary investments. Yet they must be made; neither the country nor the atmosphere can wait for high tech to ride to the rescue.
To paraphrase Obama:
“We must be the change we are waiting for”
I am setting up a new venture called Pentacle Energy to focus on these areas in the Commercial Real Estate here in NYC.
Time for me to walk the talk – What are you going to do to make America and the world a better, cleaner place to live?
