Mean Green

In 2009 the average, American household spent $2,200 annually on energy; and approximately half of that money was for heating and cooling. However, washing clothes in cold water saves money because up to 90% of the cost of washing clothes comes from heating water. Changing the thermostat by a degree for 8 hours a day – while homeowners are at work or asleep – saves 2% on heating or cooling. Sealing electric outlets in exterior walls with inexpensive foam gaskets keeps heated or cooled air from leaking out. It seems being energetic saves energy.

California will be the first state to save energy by imposing energy efficiency standards for televisions. As televisions increased in size, residential energy use attributed to televisions increased from 3%-4% in the 1990′s to 8%-10% in 2008. If nothing was done, the percentage was expected to reach 18% by 2023. As of January 2011, however, televisions 58 inches and smaller must consume 33% less electricity. By 2013 they must consume 49% less. Considering these new energy standards are expected to save California consumers $1 billion annually, the California Energy Commission’s unanimous vote put vision into television.

New vision is responsible for getting more natural gas from shale. Because of a combination of horizontal drilling and water fracturing (water and sand forced into rock at high pressure to open tiny cracks), U.S. natural gas reserves are 35% higher than previously thought. For example, a shale formation from New York to West Virginia is believed to hold 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas – equal to 80 billion barrels of oil. Natural gas is cheaper than oil and produces less carbon dioxide than coal, but it is still a fossil fuel. Thus it’s being thought of as a transition fuel – not as energy’s last gas-p.

What the U.S. needs is sustainable fuel and E. coli can provide it. The same microbe in the news for tainting food can produce biodiesel fuel. Scientists at a San Francisco-based company have genetically engineered E. coli to excrete biodiesel. Because the excreted fatty acids are almost like conventional hydrocarbon fuels, delivering this new fuel to consumers wouldn’t require any changes from the present system of delivering gas. Large scale commercialization is expected by 2013 at a competitive price with oil at $40-$50 a barrel. In reshaping the world’s fuel supply efficient, economical, sustainable E. coli could be a driving force.