| National update |
Users of renewable energy
are content as oil prices rise
BY BRAD FOSS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
For people like Ronald Cascio, who
fuels his pickup with a soybean oil
derivative, and J.D. Doliner, whose
home is partly solar powered, the
high price of energy isn’t a worry.
That doesn’t mean their renewable
energy preferences come cheap. In
fact, it requires an extra financial
commitment to wean one’s home or
vehicle off fossil fuels.
Nonetheless, a growing number of
Americans are embracing cleaner
technologies and more energy-effi
cient lifestyles. They say it makes
them feel good and, depending on
how high prices rise for traditional
energy sources, they say renewables
might even make economic sense
over the long haul.
“Some people spend their money
on Jet Skis and boats,” explained
Cascio, who lives in Berlin, Md. “So
say we spend another $1,000 a year
on fuel than we have to, what’s the
big deal? We feel good about it. You
can’t put a price on that.”
Cascio regularly spends about
$3.35 a gallon for pure biodiesel,
chemically altered soybean oil that is
fully compatible with the standard
diesel engine in his 1989 Ford truck.
But because diesel vehicles are nearly
a third more efficient than those that
run on gasoline, Cascio said his
choice of fuel isn’t looking so bad,
now that gasoline averages more
than $2.20 per gallon nationwide.
In the case of Doliner, who lives in
Arlington, Va., it may take more than
three decades for the $18,000 solar
panel system she and her husband
installed to pay for itself. But the for
mer venture capitalist said the invest
ment is worth it merely for the “psy
chic income” she enjoys.
The Doliners recently renovated
their home to be about 50 percent
more energy efficient, but they still
get about two-thirds of their electrici
ty from the grid and rely on natural
gas for home heating and to back up
their solar water heater.
“But we are having an impact on
the number of power plants that are
built,” Doliner said.
That’s a claim backed up by Paul
Torcellini, who researches residential
and commercial building designs for
Alternative fuel
Growing numbers of
Americans are using
renewable energy.
Annual U.S. consumption
of biodiesel fuel
30 million gallons
’99 00 01 02 '03 04
Cumulative U.S. residential
photovoltaic installations*
300.000 homes
250.000
200.000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0.
* Estimated
equivalent based on
manufacturers’ output
’99 00 01 02 03 04
SOURCES: National Biodiesel Board: AP
Solar Energy Industries Association
the Department of Energy’s National
Renewable Energy Laboratory. Re
ducing the country’s dependence on
fossil fuels requires two behavioral
changes: adopting renewables and
boosting energy efficiency, he said.
“It is much cheaper to save energy
than it is to make it, by at least a fac
tor of two to one,” Torcellini said.
Anyone considering solar panels
should buy the most energy-efficient
appliances and light bulbs and make
sure their walls and windows are
properly insulated, he said.
Those interested in biodiesel simply
need a diesel-engine vehicle. To show
its support of the technology, Daimler
Chrysler ships its new Jeep Liberty off
the assembly line fueled with B5,
which contains 5 percent biodiesel.
The most common grade of biodiesel
at the pump, B20, is 20 percent
biodiesel and 80 percent regular diesel.
The amount of biodiesel sold in the
United States has grown from
500,000 gallons in 1999 to roughly
30 million gallons in 2004, said Jenna
Higgins, a spokeswoman for the
National Biodiesel Board. By compari
son, the United States bums more than
100 billion gallons of gasoline each
year and 4 billion gallons of ethanol, a
fuel additive derived from corn. The
Solar Energy Industries Association es
timates there are enough photovoltaic
panels installed in the United States to
power about 286,000 homes, up from
60,000 homes in 2000. A considerably
smaller group of enthusiasts — per
haps 20,000 homeowners nationwide
— have erected wind turbines on their
property, according to the American
Wind Energy Association.
Wider acceptance of alternative
energy by consumers will require a
significant expansion of what is now
only a limited patchwork of govern
ment refunds and tax incentives.
“If the government subsidized re
newable energy the way it does oil and
gas, it would be mainstream in no
time,” said Mark Prebilic, of
Poolesville, Md. He received a
$2,000 refund from the state govern
ment and a $2,000 tax credit from the
federal government when he installed
solar panels in 2001 that now provide
about a third of his home’s power
needs. Prebilic expects to make back
the $13,000 investment he made in a
little more than 20 years.
Relatively generous government
incentives — and ample sunshine
— in California has led to the
construction of entire neighbor
hoods with homes that harness the
sun’s energy, said Rhone Resell,
executive director of the Solar Ener
gy Industries Association in Wash
ington. In Sacramento, Premier
Homes sold 95 homes over the past
year in the $250,000-$450,000 range
that were equipped with solar
panels for electricity.
Indeed, Americans tanking up
with biofuel or installing solar panels
are hardly back-to-the-land types
denying themselves modern ameni
ties and living off the grid. Doliner’s
1,500-square-foot suburban home is
“green,” with roof shingles made
from recycled tires, carpet made from
corn starch and insulation that is
partly soy-based.
“Our house isn’t made of twigs
and granola,” she said.
IN BRIEF
Bush wants refineries
at former defense bases
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President
Bush is offering to make closed mili
tary bases available for new oil refiner
ies and will ask Congress to provide a
“risk insurance” to the nuclear indus
try against regulatory delays to spur
construction of new nuclear power
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plants, senior administration officials
said Tliesday.
The officials, who spoke on condi
tion of anonymity, said the president
will outline his proposals in a speech
Wednesday in which he intends to em
phasize how new technologies can be
used to ease the energy supply crunch.
White House officials acknowl
edged that none of the initiatives was
expected to provide any short-term re
lief from soaring gasoline and oil
prices. It is Bush’s second speech on
energy within a week, reflecting grow
ing concern within the White House
regarding the political fallout over high
energy prices.
Officials said the president be
lieves the country needs a diverse
supply of energy, including expan
sion of aggressive nuclear power.
There has not been a new commer
cial nuclear reactor ordered in the
United States since 1973.
— The Associated Press
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