Abstract In the U.S., lighting homes and businesses accounts for 22% of all electric power consumption (Raloff, 2006). That's $55 billion worth of electricity, or the output of 100 large power plants (Raloff, 2006). How much energy could be saved by switching home lighting from incandescent to more efficient fluorescent lights? Conduct a survey to find out what types of lighting are used in homes in your area. Come up with an estimate of how many light fixtures are used in an average home, what types of light source (regular incandescent, halogen, fluorescent). Do background research to find out the relative efficiency of different types of lighting. How much energy could be saved by replacing incandescent lights with more efficient alternatives? Taking into account the cost of the lamps, how much money would be saved (if any)? You might also want to look into new lighting technologies like LEDs (Raloff, 2006; NGLIA, 2005). Could future light sources offer even more savings? (Idea from Langiewicz, M.T., 2004)Bibliography
Variations
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Economist Every country has resources—people, land, raw materials, capital, and machinery—and economists study how those resources are distributed to create the goods that people buy, and the services people need or want. In their studies, economists monitor economic trends and collect data on things like energy costs, inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, business cycles, taxes, and employment levels. Based on their analysis of this data, they develop forecasts of economic activity so that businesses and governments can better plan for the future. |
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Energy Engineer How much energy do you think all the houses and buildings in the United States consume? It turns out they eat up 40% of all the energy that the U.S. uses in a year. The figure is high because all those houses and buildings need to be heated, cooled, lit, ventilated, and supplied with heated water and electricity to run all sorts of electrical devices, appliances, and computers. Energy efficiency engineers help reduce the energy that houses and buildings use. This saves families and businesses money, and lowers the emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. | |
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Sustainability Specialist Are you passionate about the environment? Do you like developing and implementing new ideas? Do you enjoy talking with people about how humans impact nature? If these things are true about you, then you may be the ideal candidate for a job as a sustainability specialist. Sustainability specialists work in large and small corporations and universities to design and execute energy and resource conservation programs that reduce their employers' impact on the environment. This is a great career for people who enjoy working on teams, are socially responsible, and like to get things done! | |||
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