Pulling Energy Out of Thin Air

Surging energy costs open the door for new solutions

All across the country, people are feeling the squeeze at the gas pumps. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which caused a 15 percent efficiency drop for refineries in Louisiana and Texas, the United States witnessed a terrifying spike in oil prices, causing gas to balloon to over $5 per gallon in some areas. In the North Country, gas peaked at just under $4 per gallon.

Though prices have fallen slightly, North Country drivers are rarely finding gas lower than $3 per gallon

"It sucks," exclaims Greg Ross of Plattsburgh, New York, "It feels like I'm paying twice as much as I used to." Unfortunately for Greg, his 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse only takes high grade gasoline. "It's like they prey on people who need the high octane gas. When prices go down, you see the regular fall twice as fast as the super and the ultra. Then, when the prices go up again, it's the other way around."

"It sucks! It feels like I'm paying twice as much as I used to."

On average, the United States consumes a staggering 320 million gallons of gas a day, and 3,700 gallons are pumped every second. Clearly, Americans enjoy driving; possibly more so than any other country in the world. But topping off the SUV has been a little expensive lately, and many are starting to leave their stylish, gas guzzling Hummer's in the garage. As the national average for gas hovers around $2.80 per gallon, people have been forced to make changes in their daily driving habits. With prices climbing even higher, many have also endured a decrease in disposable income.

Local gas stations are experiencing significant decreases in their daily business as a result of the price trends

As the cost of oil rises, however, residents of colder areas like the North Country may have to endure a much more frightening reality than lighter wallets and lighter cars: having to heat their homes all winter with oil. Although prices have dropped slightly since Katrina, much of the population remains incensed at the current cost. The Consumer Price Index reports that the nation saw a 9.1 percent increase in average transportation expense for the year, including a 15.6 percent jump in the summer of 2005 alone. Energy expenses rose a drastic 38.2 percent during this period, 20.2 percent for the year.

As the colder weather of the North Country winter rapidly approaches, heating costs could become even more outrageous than gas prices. Gibson Consulting reports that 42 percent of the United States' energy is produced through petroleum. In other words, as the cost of a barrel of oil goes up, so does the cost of nearly half the country's energy expenses. And while modifying one's driving routine is an inconvenience, it's relatively simple when compared with the daunting task of battling freezing temperatures for several months.

“We should treat the prices as a warning that we need to act to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy,” Ralph Cavanagh, an expert with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in an MSNBC article entitled “Rising Oil Prices Boost Renewable Energy.”

“We should treat the prices as a warning that we need to act to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy.”

In 2001, Governor Pataki issued an executive order requiring all state agencies to purchase 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2010. Unfortunately, many renewable resources are not cost effective. Hydroelectricity, despite a clean and renewable source of energy, requires the erection of large dams, and almost always involves completely altering the path of large bodies of water. Solar power, when considered against non-renewable sources of energy like fossil fuels, simply does not generate enough energy to justify its cost. However, one source of renewable and cost effective energy is beginning to catch on in North Country: wind power.

Wind power produces electricity by harnessing the natural air current. The wind turns propellers positioned hundreds of feet in the air, which are each connected to a turbine that produces electricity as it rotates. The process is similar to the production of electricity through fossil fuels, which utilizes burning or combustion to turn a rotor. Wind power, however, is completely clean and renewable. Furthermore, given the increasing price of fossil fuels, wind power is rapidly becoming advantageous from an economic perspective, as well as an environmental one. Despite these benefits, however, the implementation of wind power in the North Country has met with strong resistance.

Though noisy and visually unappealing, propellers like these may be the answer to our future energy concerns

Wind power has only three areas of negative effects on outlining areas: noise pollution, visual distraction, and wildlife disruption. A “wind farm,” a single site composed of many turbines, typically produces a noise similar to a large airplane, and sight of large propellers disturbs the visual beauty of the surrounding land. Wildlife disruption occurs mostly in the form of birds that get caught in the propellers, especially birds of prey like eagles and hawks, which prefer a very high ledge to survey the land from. Unfortunately, a propeller blade, momentarily motionless in between gusts of wind, seems like a perfect spot to perch - until the wind begins again.

Although these side effects seem minor, if not innocuous when compared to the pollution and environmental disturbance associated with producing energy through fossil fuels, some individuals have found them to be too much to bear. "While we are staunch supporters of increasing New York State's renewable energy mix, including wind power, the scope and scale of the Barton Mines wind energy project proposal is fundamentally incompatible with the protection of natural, wild, and scenic resources of the Adirondack Park," said Association Executive Director David Gibson in an April, 2005 press release. The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, a 104-year old advocate for the Adirondack Park, opposed the proposal by Barton Group and Reunion Power to build turbines at strategic points across the Adirondacks.

"Our Board of Trustees strongly believes that the aesthetic and scenic impacts of the proposal threaten the fundamental principles of the Adirondack Park and Forest Preserve as places set apart and not dominated by human impacts or technologies," Peter Brinkley, Board President, said. Besides objections relating to the visual impact of the mammoth propellers on the mountains, the Association also protested the precedent set by the proposed plan. If some are permitted to build towers in the Adirondacks, what will be left to stop cellular phone companies and other wireless communication industries from building towers as well?

These points of protest relate to nearly every possible wind farming site; nobody wants noisy, 400 foot turbines put in their backyard. However, the current price trends project that wind power's cost per kilowatt-hour will continue to drop steadily, while other non-renewable sources of energy will rise rapidly. Currently, wind power is about even with coal at 4 cents per kilowatt-hour. In comparison, natural gas runs for about 7 cents, oil for 9 cents, and nuclear for 10 cents. Clearly, wind is poised to become the energy source of the future. However, it will simply have to wait until the demand for efficient energy is large enough to overcome the desire to preserve the aesthetics and atmosphere of the surrounding land.

How are you coping with the rising gas prices?

Hybrid versus Gas-Powered:

As gas becomes more expensive, hybrid cars are receiving increased attention. But how do these motors really stack up against the typical gas powered engines? In a recent cross country test conducted by Popular Mechanics, drivers pitted a Hybrid Honda Civic against a gas-powered Civic. Here are the results:

The Hybrid Civic, retailing for $20,010, gets 46 miles-per-gallon city and 51 highway. In theory, the 13.2 gallon tank should only need 4.5 tanks of gas to make a 3,000 mile journey.

The gas-powered Civic, retailing for $18,570, gets 32 miles-per-gallon and 38 highway. Thus, using the same size tank, should require six fill-ups for the trip.

In the end, the totals proved to be a little closer than the statistics indicate. The gas-powered Civic averaged 33.8 miles-per-gallon, while the Hybrid averaged 42. Although this seems like a substantial difference, one must realize that at this rate, it would take 144,000 miles of driving to recover the price difference between the two models.

Statistics courtesy of Popular Mechanics.