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Powering the people

Today I’d like to speak to the issue of power. I have heard people recently talking about how there is no shortage of oil and how we have to keep producing coal plants and that any other answer is because of the “tree huggers” and “eco nuts.”

I am not going over this subject because of our “carbon footprint” but from a cash standpoint. Lastly even though I find them interesting, we aren’t going to go over things like Fusion or Anti-Matter or Space Power. This is going to be a study on current reality.

n Oil (8 cents per kilowatt hour): With dwindling supplies, cost is just going to keep rising, not to mention that we have to get a good deal of it from someone else as we can’t supply all we need ourselves.

n Coal (9.3 cents per kWh): We burn over a billion tons a year in this country. It is just a matter of time until we run out. Even if they are right and we are all dead before it runs out, it will run out, and since it is a limited substance the cost will continue to rise. And in the meantime coal kills more people and destroys more land than all the nuclear accidents combined have.

n Hydroelectric: The cheapest power we have, but, we are running out of rivers to dam.

n Natural gas (11.3 cents per kWh): Yet another limited supply, but at least cleaner than oil or coal.

n Nuclear fission (8.2 cents per kWh): Really a pretty good choice for the short term, but, there are problems with long term hazardous waste, and, the year to year cost keeps rising.

n Solar (20 cents per kWh): Getting cheaper every year. Some experts say that with the newer technologies and the rising of fossil fuels that solar could be cheaper than coal in a few years. Note that there is a huge upfront investment, and, this price is figured over a 20 year lifespan, but nothing says the panels will stop functioning after 20 years.

n Wave Energy (10 cents per kWh): There are people saying that these can cause a great deal of ecological damage, and the research is still coming in.

n Wind (7 cents per kWh): This is the best thing going right now, but, like solar, the upfront investment is huge, and, there has to be wind or there is no power. This comes with the worry of brownouts and blackouts, but, if the turbines are spread out far enough, well, the wind is always blowing somewhere.

Now, please, do your own research. There are so many sources with so many conflicting numbers that the arguments will continue for the rest of our lives at least.

And all of you that haven’t bought florescent bulbs yet, imagine, over a five-year period, every bulb you change can save you between $10 and $30. Now that adds up.

Will Rutherford is the owner of Bothell-based Computer Concepts (www.conceptsnet.com) and can be reached by calling 425-481-3666.