Addicted to Fire
Author: Robert Orsello
Principal Engineer and CEO
Triage Corp “It’s an Emergency”™
www.triage.com Copyright 2008
Publish Date: 8/01/08
About 90 % of the electricity that we use in
America comes from the tip of a flame (*1).
According to the Department of Energy, more
than 4 Trillion Kilowatt hours of electricity are
consumed each year. 3.6 Trillion of that is
produced by fire!
Two immediate tangents spring to mind.
electricity create CO2. The other 20% is from
burning nuclear fuels, whose byproducts
usually don’t find their way into the atmosphere.
But half of the pie chart goes to coal, our
biggest log on the fire.
It is ironic to think that while we go about our
civilized lives, sipping a Latte, tapping a
Blackberry and searching for a good WiFi
Hotspot, there are teams of workers, with black
coated faces (and lungs) toiling away
underground to dredge out things to burn, to
feed our needs.
Author: Robert Orsello
Principal Engineer and CEO
Triage Corp “It’s an Emergency”™
www.triage.com Copyright 2008
Publish Date: 8/01/08
About 90 % of the electricity that we use in
America comes from the tip of a flame (*1).
According to the Department of Energy, more
than 4 Trillion Kilowatt hours of electricity are
consumed each year. 3.6 Trillion of that is
produced by fire!
Two immediate tangents spring to mind.
- 1.) It’s Hot: Given a 30% efficient power
plant, my humble calculations estimate
about 9 Trillion Kilowatt Hours of heat
billow into our atmosphere annually.
We also know that fire eats Oxygen and
spews CO2, which is the hinge pin of
Global Warming.
Let’s just split the pair and double down
on heat.
2.) It’s Dirty: Anyone who has hung
around a camp fire knows that burning
anything is dirty. It coats you, gets in
your hair, your cloths, makes you smell
and makes you choke. It is the big daddy
of Second Hand Smoke!
electricity create CO2. The other 20% is from
burning nuclear fuels, whose byproducts
usually don’t find their way into the atmosphere.
But half of the pie chart goes to coal, our
biggest log on the fire.
It is ironic to think that while we go about our
civilized lives, sipping a Latte, tapping a
Blackberry and searching for a good WiFi
Hotspot, there are teams of workers, with black
coated faces (and lungs) toiling away
underground to dredge out things to burn, to
feed our needs.
I read a statistic (*2) that 24,000 Americans die
each year as an accumulated result of coal-fired
pollutants.
So the coal industry provides our precious
energy source, yet a select number of us, as if in
exchange, fall victim. It starts to resemble the
two symbiotic societies depicted in H.G. Wells
book “The Time Machine”?
I’m not here to beat up on coal! Coal fueled the
industrialization of America. I think it would be
safe to say that the coal industry is at least a
couple of vertebrae in the backbone of America.
Like an old war veteran, the coal industry
deserves eternal respect.
But lets be honest, it’s dangerous and invasive to
collect and unhealthy to use. “Clean Coal”
shouts oxymoron.
I’m just saying, “Let’s Evolve!” We as a nation
should help reinvent the entire industry to a new
power source. These people have given their
lives in tunnels for generations so that we could
grow to become the super power we have. But
really, isn’t it time to stop being cavemen?
Footnotes:
1.) www.eia.doe.gov
2.) MSNBC: Deadly Power plants?
each year as an accumulated result of coal-fired
pollutants.
So the coal industry provides our precious
energy source, yet a select number of us, as if in
exchange, fall victim. It starts to resemble the
two symbiotic societies depicted in H.G. Wells
book “The Time Machine”?
I’m not here to beat up on coal! Coal fueled the
industrialization of America. I think it would be
safe to say that the coal industry is at least a
couple of vertebrae in the backbone of America.
Like an old war veteran, the coal industry
deserves eternal respect.
But lets be honest, it’s dangerous and invasive to
collect and unhealthy to use. “Clean Coal”
shouts oxymoron.
I’m just saying, “Let’s Evolve!” We as a nation
should help reinvent the entire industry to a new
power source. These people have given their
lives in tunnels for generations so that we could
grow to become the super power we have. But
really, isn’t it time to stop being cavemen?
Footnotes:
1.) www.eia.doe.gov
2.) MSNBC: Deadly Power plants?