True Costs to Dirty Energy

There are many costs to dirty energy, the most obvious being money, but some are more subtle like air pollution, environmental destruction, habitat loss and many more. My goal is to make this world a better place, a place where my son can grow old in and not have to worry about going outside for fear of pollution. Now that may sound a bit extreme but this Mit Study tracked ground level emissions from tailpipes, industrial smokestacks, and residential heating. They found that those pollutants caused around 200,000 early deaths each year. That is a staggering number. Staggering because not only is there a better way but it’s here today, we don’t have to dig for it we don’t have to drill for it all we have to do is harness the power of the sun.

Solar power has been around since the 1980’s and it is baffling to me that it’s not mainstream. I understand that not every one can afford to drop $20,000 on their home for a full solar power system, but this kit to my left is only 180 dollars and can save you hundreds on your electric bill now there kits that run up to a grand or so but I wouldn’t recommend those to a first time builder. I can’t stress enough the importance in today’s world to start thinking of the earth and what we are doing to it. We are going to reach a time where it will be too late to act. Solar panels are a clean reliable source of electricity that uses a fuel that will be around for another billion years or so and by that time I am pretty sure we will have figured out a better way. Now I live in one of the snowiest cities in the US and last winter being that my house is 100% electric my bill was through the roof! I was paying over $500 a month and had no money left to spare. If I were paying more attention to how my energy was being used for example all my light bulbs were the cheap 5 dollar lights that have been around for ages and suck up electricity. If I would’ve shut off lights when I wasn’t in the room I could’ve saved a few dollars. Now last winter it would’ve been almost impossible to cut down on my heat because of the bitter cold but if I were able to build a solar panel myself for relatively cheap I could’ve saved hundreds.

Wind power has been around since 200 B.C. when the first machine powered by wind is said to be dated. Wind power is relatively simple but not all places are suitable for them. A good place to start is to look up online where you live on a wind chart and if your average speed is above 8 mph your location is good. Although 12 mph is considered the most ideal. Wind power has come along way since the days of windmills standing beautifully in the field. Now days they use gears and turbines to maximize even minuscule gust they receive producing the maximum amount of electricity. Many people today are choosing to build their own solar panels and wind turbines since they are more cost-effective. The average cost of a complete solar panel setup for a house is around $20,000. This can be countered by certain government grants but the cost is still high. The average cost to build a solar panel that can save you 80% on your electric bill is under $300. That is a serious price difference, on the one hand you a have a professionally built system that WILL pay you back but the amount of time it takes will be around 30 years. On the other hand you have a home build system built relatively cheap that you can always upgrade and change. The benefits of solar power and wind power are too many to count. If every home in the united states installed solar panels it would cost less than the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars combined, and would save the taxpayers 162 billion dollars per year.