Your comment about your environmental economics class brings back memories. During the 70s energy "crisis", while living in Minnesota, I had a friend who taught science in the local high school in Waseca, Minnesota (a state not known for its huge amount of sunshine). This is a very important point, as he is responsible for teaching our children.
One evening, during the dead of winter, while our families were visiting in his new "energy efficient and forward-thought-out home" he mentioned that it was more than a little irritating to have to keep reminding his wife to turn off the lights when leaving a room. She had a habit of leaving them on wherever she went. You should know that, as part of his planning for the impending doom, his new house was heated by solar heat collectors which stored their energy in water tanks, and he chose to use electricity for all other heating purposes. In other words, he divorced himself of the use of gas or oil for heating purposes (those evil bio-energy sources). In responding to his comment about his wife, and in the way of introducing my case in support of his wife (or at least not condemning her) , I asked him if he used electricity for heat. (I already knew the answer, of course.) He said yes. I then explained to him that incandescent lights are only about 2.5% efficient at producing light and that the remaining energy is converted to heat. I think he understood this, as my comment invoked memories in his mind of trying to remove hot light bulbs from their sockets. I then pointed out that the light bouncing around in the room is eventually absorbed by everything within the room and converted to heat in the process. I then pointed out that for the case of ultimate efficiency he would be better off telling his wife to close all her curtains and shades, for he certainly wouldn't want the heat-producing light to leave the house through the windows. My recollection is that I was never invited back. I hope he has enjoyed his 30 years of living in an electric-heated house. I worry, though, that people like him teach our children. |
