Economically, personal energy independence just makes sense. Whether it be wind, solar, gasification, other renewable sources, or a mix of few of these, there are some serious adavantages. And while it will be tough for an individual to become fully independent, our furture may count on getting as close to that mark as we can.
Let’s imagine that you didn’t have a monthly power bill, what would you do with the extra money? As energy prices keep rising they steal more and more of our discretionary income, which is income that doesn’t see its way back into the market to help bolster the economy. And what about the other energy cost we have…how free would you feel emotionally and econmically if you didn’t have to stop at a gas station for your everyday fuel needs? Converting to a renewable home power system cuts out the middleman, and you produce the energy you need when you need it. In addition, converting to an electric car lets you use that energy for all of your basic fuel needs. Those changes make a big dent in the outflow of your hard earned money and give you more to spend on the other important and sometimes non-important expendatures.
Keeping more money in the checking account should get just about everyone excited, but there’s also another consideration: the energy crisis. There are energy resources in this country that are getting old and need to be decommissioned. These power plants are going to have to be replaced, and it gets hard to keep up with power requirements when U.S. power demand is growing, plants are closing, and our economy is dragging its feet. Disastrous things happen when we start to have energy shortages. We need leadership and personal initiative. We could take responsibility in this crisis and calm the stress on the power infrastructure by making power locally in the home. If we don’t look at this problem as it is and leave it to the same people that have been dealing with it for decades, we are in for a rough ride.
One of the great side effects of working toward personal energy independence is that we cut down on our use of carbon based fuels. Athough the debate rages on about the environment, there is no doubt that fossil fuels will someday run out. We need to prepare for that right now with renewables. If indeed we are doing damage to our surroundings, then renewables offer a responsible way to power us into the future.
All of these great things and it seems like we’re crawling to implementation. Unfortunately, many of the renewable technologies aren’t ready for primetime, and their infant state makes them expensive (we still think the econmics work in their favor). On the bright side Americans have shown the will in past times to push through difficulties and do what is right for the good of the many. Call us hopeful, but we believe it can be done. It is just going to take an attitude that doens’t accept business as usual. So, whether it’s wind, solar, or a hybrid, let’s do the hard stuff now so that we can survive the future.
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Nice site. Theres some good information on here. Ill be checking back regularly.
September 24th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Let me tell you what I see here: a lot of feel good talk without any real solutions. You should be a politician!
I searched for “Personal Energy Independence” because I wanted to see what other people’s ideas for achieving it are. You present the same whimsical “the solution is out there somewhere” message with the typical altruistic, feel-good, save-the-world, self-sacrifice façade that we’ve grown of so tired of.
I’ve seen some good suggestions on your site for cutting down on energy use, but not much on truly breaking away from the grid. What’s your plan to personally break away from foreign oil? What’s you plan to cut yourself loose from the electric grid? Do you own solar panels? If so, let’s hear about them!
If you do in fact have plans to break away from the grid and achieve personal energy independence, then forgive me for this rant. But if you are just blowing hot air, and want to bitch and moan at the government to force private industry to adopt energy solutions that aren’t in their best interest – then I have no use for you.
September 24th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Well, Nick, I am happy to see someone with some fire. I am replying to your comment, although I doubt you will return to see an update.
First let me speak for the both of us when I say we do what we personally can afford to do. If we were millionaires and not average people, we definitely would not have a blog, we would be dumping millions of dollars into a plan like T. Boone Pickens.
Do we each have solar panels on our homes, not yet. We started the blog with the idea that we wanted to start making a difference. We wanted to offer people that have the opportunity to make a difference some ideas and even ways to help facilitate those ideas.
Seeing as you are the first to call us out, Nick, I will reveal a little piece of our current plan in the making. We are presently preparing a presentation to go to a major company in the area and try and persuade them to switch over some of their fleet to CNG. With that, if it happens, we plan on taking the little bit of profit we would receive and invest it back into some opportunities that would give the American People the option to use Alternative Energy.
Are we spending tons of money at the moment changing everything we own over to a completely green environment? No. Not because we don’t want to, but because we do not personally have those financial opportunities “yet”. Yet being the key work Nick. We are however people that are trying to make a difference, not by ranting and raving on a blog site, but by offering “solutions” to people that have the desire and the financial opportunity to.
Please do not misunderstand my comment Nick, your enthusiasm and your desire to “call us out” is something we as Americans need, including us. We appreciate people that have the fire that you do. We hope that you see there is a problem with the world, especially our country, and we need people like you. The question will be tossed back into your court though…what are you doing to make a difference? Are you willing to join forces with us or someone like us, or are you going to sit at your computer screen and scrutinize anyone and everyone who only “has ideas”. Maybe in your eyes all we have are ideas, but ideas and posting them on the internet for the world to judge is still better than nothing at all.
L.J.