JANUARY 2012


22


and cons of all available en- ergy sources. In the end, what did these bright young minds, these future presidents, con- clude on the can we and should we questions? Said my brother, “On the issue of global warm- ing in general, we concluded that it’s complicated . . . we just don’t know for certain.” Then he went on. “But, since we have the capability to reverse the warming trend, why not make the investment.” Jerry began to spout energy


facts. The class learned that a large coal-burning power plant generates one gigawatt of electricity. Feeding the daily appetite of such a power plant requires a coal train of 100 cars, each carrying 100 met- ric tons of coal. That’s 10,000 metric tons of coal per day per power plant. There are nearly 600 coal-burning power plants of various sizes throughout the U.S. The class understood that we have plenty of coal for years to come, even at that incredible burn rate. But does that mean we should burn it? Comparing coal-power to so-


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lar, the class learned that the sun sends to the Earth one kilo- watt of energy per square me- ter of ground. Jerry developed an exam question around this: How many square meters of ground would have to be cov- ered with solar panels to meet our nation’s current electric demand? Focusing on the sun- niest state, the answer is that a solar array covering just 4 percent of Arizona would meet current U.S. electrical energy needs.


Bringing this point home,


Jerry has determined he would need 28 square meters of solar panels, only one-quarter of his townhouse’s roof, to meet his family’s demand for energy. I’ve already given him the


contact info for several solar in- stallers. So what if my brother doesn’t care about polar bears! Jeff Feldman runs GreenPath Consulting, a green building con- sulting firm. Jeff and his wife Kris- tin Alexander live in a strawbale home in Berkeley County. You can reach Jeff at GreenPathConsult- ing@gmail.com.


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