Monday, April 19, 2010

Energy Usage


Here is a breakdown of my energy and fuel usage!
A) Electricity Usage
- Cell phone charger – 7hrs
- T.V. – 3hrs d – plugged in 24hours
- Hot Water Heater – 1hr in use but always plugged in
-Washing machine - 5 hrs weeks – plugged in 24hour
- Dryer – 5 hours week plugged in 24hour
- Microwave – 1 hr week - plugged in 24hours
- Computer – 3hrs day - plugged in 24hour
-A/C - 12hrs a day
- Heater – It’s Florida, are you kidding me?
- Blow Dryer – 1 hr week
-Hair Straighter – 1 hr week
- Stove/Oven – 5 hours week - plugged in 24hours
- Lamp – 3hrs day - plugged in 24hour
-Ceiling Fan – 12hrs day
- Radio – 3 hours day

b) I don’t have access to my meter.

c) Power Company: FPL is my power company. According to their website they use 52 percent natural gas, 19 percent nuclear, 15 percent purchased power, 8 percent oil and 6 percent coal. They also say that they are, “meeting our customers' growing energy needs with sound planning and low-cost, reliable and environmentally responsible new generation resources.” When I first read that I assumed we were automatically getting the resources, but apparently we have to request them and pay more... WHAT A LIE! They only “environmentally safe, renewable sources [ the whooping 15%] they use come from power plants that produce energy using fuel from solid waste, landfill gas, waste paper and sugar cane wastes. Is that good? They say they are developing programs that use technologies that will allow them to use renewable energy sources, but the plans are not yet in action.

d) Gas Mileage - 2009 Camery - Monday – by myself all day
- 84.6 miles total to and from school
- 8 miles to and from work
- 2 miles misc.
Total Miles for the Day: 94.6 miles.

e) ESTIMATE total miles driven per year= 39,800 miles / 2.5 years = 15,920 miles year. According to my car manual, I get 29 mpg city and 31mpg highway. I predominately use to highway to travel. I use about 513 gallons of gas a year.


f) TOTAL CARBON OUTPUT OF My CAR = Yearly = 7.5tons of CO2 which for my model car that travel appox. 15,000 miles a year. So that means, since my average yearly milage is almost 16,000 a year, my cars carbon output is over 7.5 tons. My weekly Carbon output 0.144 tons.

g) I feel that I make pretty sustainable choices when it comes to my energy useage. I use energy efficient light bulbs and I am upgrading to energy efficient appliances. I unplug the items that I don’t use every day and have easy access to. I turn all the electrical appliances, lights and fans off when I am not home. I also keep my air conditioner on seventy nine degrees.
My fuel use, however, is pretty horrible. I don’t feel like I am being as sustainable as I should be. I almost always travel alone and I travel a lot during the week. I have to drive to Fort Myers three days a week, one for classes and two for my internship. I also travel to and from work 5 days a week. I really wish I could be better with my fuel usuage, but I don’t really feel like I have much of a choice right now because of my travels to school. I try to sign up for as many internet classes as possible, but because I am an education major, they aren’t all offered virtually.

Resources:
"FPL Alternative Energy." Florida Power & Light Company (FPL): Electric Power Utility. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2010. .

"Find a Car." Fuel Economy . N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2010. .

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