[Greenbuilding] Energy Efficiency and Fossil Fuels: Isn't there a bigger picture?

[Corwyn]

On Feb 24, 2007, at 01:27, Mary Bull - Greenwood Earth Alliance wrote:

> Maize
> Greetings, Greenbuilders,

> But isn't there a bigger picture that should be informing our choices 
> at
> this point? Should we buy fossil-fuel-powered appliances, when we are 
> 1.)
> polluting the atmosphere with them, and 2.)  running out of fossil 
> fuels?

Well, all my appliances use fossil fuels.  The electric ones just do it 
more expensively.

>
> Can we ever anticipate a clean-burning gas that is viable (i.e., 
> something
> that does not rely on fossil fuels and that does not require 
> ecosystems and
> farmland conversions to grow it)? Methane, for instance--which now 
> outweighs
> auto emissions in its contribution to global warming. Does burning it 
> solve
> that greenhouse gas problem, and will we ever be able to bottle it like
> propane?

Burning methane produces CO2, at the rate of 2 CO2 for 1 C2H6.  The 
number I have heard is that methane is 1000 times worse when it comes 
to green house effect.  So, burning would be better than releasing it.  
Bottling it isn't a problem, that I know of.  Gathering it from it 
sources is trickier.  But to the extent feasible, it is a clear win.

Hydrogen can be converted from water with electricity, so if clean 
electricity is available, clean hydrogen can be as well.

> Other candidates in the fore-seeable future, so that we can view
> our use of gas or propane as a temporary, stop-gap measure, and 
> convert our
> appliances to the new, clean source sometime in the foreseeable future?

I did some research on this awhile back, and the consensus seemed to be 
that converting my stove, water heater, and fridge from propane to 
either methane or hydrogen would be no harder than it was converting 
from natural gas to propane.
>
> Which is better: To go with the more energy-efficient propane for these
> functions of supplemental heat, supplemental hot water, and cooking, 
> or the
> least energy-efficient solar-generated-but-through-the-grid 
> electricity? Or
> should I return to wood-burning, which becomes totally unviable if 
> everybody
> does it?

Comparing the embodied energy in enough solar panels to run your 
appliances against the fossil fuels is tricker than I am willing to 
try.

I choose fueled appliances where I did, for their performance now.  I 
don't know where the whole energy thing is going, so I didn't try to 
second guess it.   Breakthroughs in any of a dozen technologies will 
completely change the balance.

Thank You Kindly,

Corwyn


-- 
Corwyn
Kermit didn't know the half of it...
http://www.greenfret.com/
corwyn at greenfret.com