Solar panels, LED lights an energetic way to save
24th Sep 2012
All over the world there are now towns and cities that are doing their best to try and convert to solar, LED and other energy efficient means of powering, heating, cooling and lighting their homes and habitats. The simple fact is, electrical energy is not cheap, not abundant and the manufacture of electricity can be very harmful to the environment. Any city, town or community that wants to do its part to save energy (and save the planet) can do just that but only if a plan is put into effect and acted upon.
One town in Australia that is doing something about it is the small town of Pittwater. In the past 5 years they have scaled back their energy consumption by a whopping 3.3 million kw hours simply by using a fund that was set up to do same and revolving the money back into that fund every year to keep saving more and reducing their energy footprint.
Indeed, since the fund was started 5 years ago the council estimates that they have saved nearly $580,000.00 and this has instilled a new pride in the town that is paying off in reduced use among private homeowners as well.
"The work we've done is not complicated. The stuff we're doing, anybody can do that in their own homes" says Paul Reid, the council’s corporate strategist. "Electricity costs are spiraling out of control. What we're trying to do now is reduce the impact of the cost of electricity." Today many of the homeowners in town have switched to solar panels, LED lighting systems and other energy reducing devices.
Amazingly Pittwater today uses about the same amount of electricity that they did back in 2005. A portion of this is due to the change in street lights to newer LED lighting systems that have saved copious electricity and the emission of 14,000 tons of caustic carbon fumes.
Not only that but they changed the fuel source of town council cars to soy diesel, further saving energy and the environment while serving as an excellent example to other towns all over the country that not only is energy saving a good idea it is an absolutely feasible idea that only needs to be put into action to net results and show real savings and a real reduction in energy waste. Way to go, mates!