61 comments on Q & A With Paul Hanrahan, CEO of AES
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61 comments on Q & A With Paul Hanrahan, CEO of AES
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A couple of further ideas for reducing usage. Change out/reduce street lighting. Yes, a lot of the power usage is in off peak periods, but it would reduce the water used to turn hydro turbines which in many areas are the base load supply. Yes someone is going to yell about crime and liability, but there are trade-offs in every endeavor.
Regulate the amount of wattage in advertising signs. If everbodies ox is gored equally, no one should be disadvantaged. I have been told that these usages are minimal and my answer is a tenth of a percent is better than no percent.
"Regulate the amount of wattage in advertising signs. If everbodies ox is gored equally, no one should be disadvantaged"
But, every user of energy should not be treated equally. Those whose electricity is wasteful or is not essential to the safety and well being of the population must be charged a higher rate. The billboard companies could be charged a high enough rate to encourage them to get a solar array and battery system to light their signs. And, reduce highway lighting and airport lighting.
The auto/airline industries are huge users of electric power for lighting compared to railroads/transit systems. If more travel could be shifted to these more energy efficient modes, much electrical power could be saved. You don't see many railroad tracks illuminated at night, and the station facilities for transit and intercity passenger rail systems cover much smaller land areas than highways and airports, thus less lighting/power needed.
"But, every user of energy should not be treated equally. Those whose electricity is wasteful or is not essential to the safety and well being of the population must be charged a higher rate."
One question: Why?
Your CO2 is just as bad as your neighbour's CO2. Schemes to differentiate how much energy is used for what puprose usually satisfy the anal mind but are not practical. Slapping a 100% tax on carbon is simple and workable, and, in the end, the market can sort it out. If everything becomes more expensive, what are you going to cut out first: te useless stuff that gets advertised for most or bread and butter? And once you cut out the useless products, advertising for them will stop very, very quickly. People do not produce and do not advertise for things that don't sell.