A little over four years ago, I attended WIREC, the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference. Even though I had been involved in my own renewable energy work for years, it was one of my first "big time" conferences. Two big topics were bounced around quite a bit: carbon credits and the Fifth Fuel. I was just starting to get my head around carbon credits. Quite frankly, I'm much too much of a boots on the ground kind of guy to get all whipped into a frenzy over stuff that only exists on paper. But, the Fifth Fuel intrigued me.
Folks at the conference were talking about how energy efficiency is the Fifth Fuel. OK, I can get that. But I hated to expose my ignorance to what "they" considered were the first four. I did a Google search and found the first four fuels are: coal, petroleum, nuclear and alternative energy. Glad that's settled.
I admit it, I'm an energy efficiency nut. Back during the gas crunch of the late '70s I was a college student driving a Ford van with a fairly thirsty V-8. Nowadays we have truck and diesel magazines but back then, we had magazines dedicated to custom vans. They were all the rage and I read all of the magazines cover to cover. The magazines were filled with ads touting how these aftermarket engine components could increase fuel economy but 5%, 10% and more. I knew better than to believe everything I read but even with conservative fuel economy increases, would these modifications be worth it.
I remember running the numbers every way in the world to see if I could justify hopping up my V-8 engine. Remember, this was before the days of computers. No such thing as spreadsheets back then. I did it all longhand based on projected fuel prices. My thought was simple: if a modification could pay for itself in three years or less, it was worth it.
I ended up adding an intake manifold, four barrel carb and headers to my van. Oh, and a vacuum gauge to watch my engine economy. Sure enough, I saw fuel mileage increases and as projected, the mods took about three years to pay for themselves.
A few years later as a business owner, I attacked my monthly utility bills with the same fervor, applying the same 36 month payback approach. By this time I learned to call it ROI: Return On Investment.
Over twenty years, I added a few energy efficiency measures along the way. Investing a dollar here and a dollar there, I was able to shave my overall utilities by two thirds!
Here's where I part company with a lot of folks in the "green community". They get all whipped into a frenzy over solar and wind. I love the idea of energy independence but who can afford to invest a ton of money for something that won't see a payback for a dozen or more years? It just doesn't make sense. Sure, rich folks can afford it and I'm thankful for them because they help get the sales volume up which brings the price down. But, I can't play in that league.
Or, how about the new Porsche 918 Hybrid. Imagine a sports car that gets 78mpg! Wow... that's impressive. But, it costs $845,000. Let's see, how long would it take for the fuel savings to make up the difference in cost?
Now, I'm not in the high end sports car market so these are wild guess numbers, but let's use round figures. I'd figure you could get a pretty neat car for $100,000. I understand Vettes and other high end sports cars coming out of Detroit get over 20 miles to the gallon but let's be conservative and expect to get 15mpg. At $4 a gallon, you'd need to drive just under 3.5 million miles. OK, what if the fuel prices double? That whittles the payback to just under 1.74 million miles.
Now, these cars aren't "everyday drivers" by any means. I doubt folks would put ten thousand miles a year. But, for argument's sake, let's say someone drove a car like this all the time. Average American drivers put on 15,000 miles a year. Let's double that. Hey, getting 78 miles to the gallon in a fine sports car, I'd want to drive it a lot. Nah... doubling it isn't enough. I'd want to drive that car cross country all the time! Let's triple the average American mileage and work with 45,000 miles a year. How many years would you need to own that car to break even the big bucks to go hybrid? Just 38 years!!!! What a deal!!!
My friends know me as being about as green as anyone. I even recycle my recycled stuff! I run my entire small business on renewable energy... no light bill and I make my own fuel. But, everything I invest in has a three year payback or less. Sometimes the payback on upgrades are measured in months.
Here's the kicker- a lot of these "cool ideas" don't cost a lot. The average consumer won't hear about them because no one stands to make a ton of money off of it. Sadly, we only hear about products that have high profit potential. If it isn't major market, it is practically invisible. And if it is public domain information based on old science and common sense, the average person will never hear at all.
I'm all about energy independence both personally and as a nation. But, it has to make sense with my checkbook. I'm finding lots and lots of ideas that work. Sure the headlines spotlight cool and sexy ideas such as solar, wind or algae. And I truly hope those technologies become viable. But, they aren't here now.
In the meantime, I'll keep scouring the internet and local workshops for neat ideas that work... and that will pay for themselves in months, not decades.
