How to conserve energy: Become Power Smart!

            Being power smart and energy efficient are both important to make a difference by reducing energy in the United States. When you are replacing a hot water heater, furnace or air conditioner, look for  Energy Star appliances because it will significantly impact how much energy you are conserving and consuming. Also, turn off all of your lights when you are leaving the room and also use the natural sunlight that you receive from Mother Nature, it's free and energy free. 

Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch: What is this? Why are people concerned about this issue?

           The Plastic Vortex, or the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch has been talked and investigated in the news lately. This problem is located in the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone.  Sailors and fisherman have noticed an abundance of plastic floating around this concentrated area of the Pacific Ocean. So what’s the big deal? This plastic vortex is not only affecting the marine life that lives there, but it also has a negative effect on people’s health and safety, and may be entering our food chain.  

What the heck is geothermal energy? What's the big deal?

            Geothermal energy, is an alternative source of energy and is quite expensive to install and maintain. This type of energy uses heat pumps that are underground which can be used for many purposes, from heating water to air conditioning. Some of the downsides to this source of energy are that it is more expensive than traditional heating to install, it depends on the climate, soil conditions, available land and installation costs. The pros to this type of energy are that it costs less than conventional heating and cooling costs, it lowers air emissions and increases energy efficiency. 

Solar Power: Is a reliable alternative source of energy to use in the future?

Solar energy, as many might know, is  the energy that we receive from our sun.  The sun’s rays contain a lot of energy that is both clean and abundant in the United States, so it would be a very good decision to start using solar energy everywhere across the United States.  Also with solar energy, it doesn’t just work in California, Florida and Hawaii, it would work anywhere from Fairbanks, Alaska to New Jersey.  

My response to Crystal's blog, "My Insight to Energy"

Crystal’s blog, “My Insight to Energy” totally lures in the reader in several ways. She chose a really luring and appealing picture of a light bulb completely covered in leaves, she has a video bar and on top of that, she also has a poll regarding how much energy costs to use in Alaska. She also has incorporated many interesting pictures into her posts and has very insightful and thoughtful entries, which makes her blog very appealing and very well done.

Map of wind resources in the United States

This map/chart shows its audience where in the United States would benefit or not benefit from having and using wind for energy. The places where it would be beneficial to have wind turbines would be along the Aleutian chain in Alaska, Kodiak, and several islands off of the northwest coast of Alaska.  The places that wouldn’t benefit from this possible alternative source of energy would be Florida, Lousiana, and the other southeastern states.  The chart's key explains what each color represents and how much wind speed power is available in a given location.

My results and response from the BP energy calculator

I think it is interesting that an oil based company would have an energy calculator on their website. Just think about it, most oil companies are not concerned at all with using or producing alternative sources of energy. They are also not entirely concerned with how much energy one consumes in  a year. I use 18,965 kWh/year.  A kilowatt is a unit of measurement dividing energy over time.On average, one gallon of regular gasoline contains approximately 35 kWh of energy. This isn’t a huge number to start with, but just think about how many gallons it takes to fill up your vehicle, and how many gallons of gasoline you use per year. This number  adds up quickly!