Energy independence_a phrase near and dear to every politician these days.

Going beyond the pander, what does energy independence mean?  True energy independence would be getting energy from sources that are renewable. That leaves out oil and coal. Nuclear could be an option, but the problems of waste disposal and the tremendous cost to build and maintain nuclear plants are huge hurdles, despite the rhetoric to the contrary. That leaves solar, wind, tidal, geothermal and biomass.

There are three levels of energy independence: Personal, Local and National.

How can an individual contribute to energy independence in each of these areas?

Personal: there is a lot of low hanging fruit to save energy in our personal lives because we have been accustomed to cheap energy.  We waste a lot, some estimates are that up to 30% of U.S. energy consumption is waste.  Simple low cost lifestyle changes can reduce energy use dramatically - things like using compact fluorescent lightbulbs instead of incandescents, turning off phantom power, using a clothes line instead of a dryer, taking the bus, riding a bike, etc.

To be truly personally energy independent in a technologically advanced country requires an investment in a renewable energy source like a solar electric system and reliance on human powered transportation or an electric vehicle.  Small problem, solar power is expensive to purchase and install (but very easy to maintain) and there aren’t too many practical electric vehicles.  For the near term, personal energy independence “will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued, but never attained”.

Local: there are movements to make local communities energy independent. There is plenty of potential energy around, biomass from the local landfill could be converted to natural gas, and community wind or solar farms are a possibility.

Some communities are promoting the use of compressed natural gas as an alternative energy source, and T. Boone Pickens insists that CNG can be our transition fuel for transportation while we move to electric vehicles or hydrogen vehicles.

What can an individual do to achieve local energy independence? Get involved with (or start) a grass roots organization to plan for a world with dramatically more expensive or less available energy. A good example of such an organization is A.P.P.L.E.

http://www.apple-nc.org/about.html

National: this is what the politicians usually mean when they talk about energy independence. Drill, baby, drill_all of the above_green energy_yada, yada, yada.

The facts, there is plenty of energy, there just isn’t enough cheap energy to go around. Every day, enough solar energy strikes the earth to supply the entire planet for a year.

True energy independence would require investments in the technology to capture the renewable energy all around us. The idea that using more coal or more oil is going to make us energy independent is preposterous. It might make us less dependent for a while, but energy independence means moving to renewables.

What can an individual do to affect the national move toward energy independence. First, think about the proposed solutions, and reject those that are just stalling techniques. Second, accept the fact that we are going to have to invest in a national energy infrastructure to insulate the country from the ups and downs of the global demand for “cheap” energy (fossil fuels). Third, do your part in the Personal and the Local energy independence areas. It may take a real crisis to wake America up to the requirement for national energy independence. A smaller personal and local energy footprint could be the only way to insulate yourself from such a crisis.

What do you think?