I have visited Casper (Wyoming) only once in my life, but I think I would be happy to spend more time (or even live) there. I love the winter season which always brings a lot of delight to people. However, this season is also associated with increased consumption of energy as people need to heat their homes and light up their rooms as sunlight may not be enough even in the daytime and the dusk falls quite early.
I will consider the energy consumption of my friend’s family which can be regarded as an average ‘green’ family. By ‘green’ I mean that these people understand the importance of being environmentally responsible and they try to do their best to follow major principles of sustainability.
They heat their house with the help of a pellet fuel appliance. They do not have a cooling system in their house as it is properly designed and built. Besides, there are no high temperatures in Wyoming. To light up their house, they use electricity.
The electricity is supplied by one of the local energy companies. Electricity is predominantly produced with the use of coal and natural gas in Wyoming (EIA, 2012). This family has two cars but they do not want to buy another car (though they have two children) as they think there is no need to add emissions to the air as two cars are enough. Besides, one of their children is in college and he lives on campus. The other child is in high school and her mum or her friends’ parents take her to school.
My friend’s family would like to use renewable sources of energy and there are several options as a variety of renewable sources of energy are available nowadays. However, it is necessary to note that only some of them can be suitable for Wyoming. Thus, solar energy is unlikely to be amenable in this region as there are not too many sunny days. The cost of solar batteries and their installation is quite high so it is not cost-efficient to install solar batteries to supply a household with energy.
Another possible type of renewable energy is wind power. According to National Renewable Energy Laboratory (2011), the average annual wind speed in this region is quite high (about 9-10 m/s). Besides, the state relies on wind energy significantly and there are a lot of companies producing wind energy.
Notably, 13% of the electricity produced in the region comes from this kind of renewable source (energy4me, 2012). Apart from being one of the renewable sources of energy, wind energy is also one of the most environmentally friendly types of energy as its production and consumption does not produce wastes and does not emit greenhouse gases (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2010). Therefore, this is one of the best ways to produce energy in the region.
Biofuels can also become a good option for the region. 30.2 million acres are used in farming (EIA, 2012). Therefore, there are quite enough raw materials for biofuels in the state. It is necessary to note that the production of biofuel is not associated with large amounts of harmful emissions (EIA, 2012). However, the use of biofuel causes quite a considerable amount of greenhouse gases. Thus, it is possible to use this renewable source of energy, though it is also possible to search for other types of sources.
In this respect, it is possible to note that my friend’s family has several options. Moreover, they do use environmentally friendly sources of energy. In the first place, they decided to install a special heating system not to rely on coal and natural gas. They have a pellet fuel appliance which is used in cold seasons. The pellets are made from agricultural wastes, sawdust, waste paper, and a variety of other organic materials (Energy.gov, 2012). Thus, they do not need to rely on coal and natural gas. It is necessary to state that it was not very expensive to install the appliance (around $3,000). Nonetheless, the cost of the pellets is quite significant though these people are ready to pay a bit more. The family uses a renewable source of energy to heat the house (they use biofuel). Notably, the appliance still needs electricity.
My friend’s family consumes quite a lot of electricity as they have two computers and different household appliances. They receive electricity from a company that produces electricity with the help of coal. However, my friend’s family is thinking about switching to another supplier, the company which uses wind power to produce electricity.
This will not cause additional expenditure as the difference between the fees of the two companies is not that big. However, the switch will have a significant environmental impact as wind is a renewable source of energy and the use of this source does not lead to harmful emissions. In this way, they will use a renewable source of energy to light up their house as wind power is one of such sources.
As far as the use of petroleum is concerned, they are not ready to change their ways. They have two cars and they consider this to be quite a responsible step towards being ‘green’. They decided not to buy a car for their children, but they need two cars as my friend’s father and mother work in different parts of the city. Their working hours also differ. One of the cars is quite old, so they are now thinking of buying a new car which will be a hybrid car. It will also have a positive impact on the environment as hybrid cars produce fewer emissions.
It is necessary to add that the use of renewable sources of energy is only one of the ways to follow principles of sustainability. One possible way are to use less energy. The family mentioned above can also be an example of this way. First of all, I know that some people like it when it is really hot in their houses irrespective of seasons. Thus, they heat their houses so that they can wear T-shirts. Of course, there is no need to make a sea resort out of your house. It is necessary to be more reasonable. Of course, it is also possible to consider better insulation of a house, which will lead to a reduction in energy use.
As for the use of electricity, one of the computers can be replaced by a laptop computer. It is also necessary to try to use fewer appliances. At Christmas time, there is no need to light the house to make it visible from outer space. There are many ways to decorate a house. The use of energy-saving bulbs is also essential. Therefore, each individual can make a difference as there are many ways to contribute to the development of a healthier and environmentally friendly society.
Reference List
EIA. (2012). Wyoming. Web.
Energy4me. (2012). Wind energy. Web.
Energy.gov. (2012). Wood and Pellet Heating. Web.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. (2010). Western wind and solar integration study. Web.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. (2011). Economic development from gigawatt-scale wind deployment in Wyoming. Web.