Electricity

Electricity is a wonderfully complex part of our daily lives. Of course electricity isn't just sourced from one fuel, but employs a mix of fuel sources to create the currents that power our modern homes and offices.

We've been learning about the rolls that energy mixes play in my Sustainability classes. Last week it caused me to look up the fuel mix of SRP and APS.

It turns out that both APS and SRP source 6% of their fuel from renewable resources (mostly hydro-electric). The national average is above 8% of renewable sources. Most of our electricity comes from burning coal. Which is a cheap way to make electricity without giving a damn about the environmental effects that throwing that much CO2 into the atmosphere will create.

I just looked up Seattle City Light (Seattle's electricity provider) fuel mix. City Light sources 94% of it's electricity from renewable resources! 3.25% of that is from wind, which is a lot. Only 0.85% of Seattle's electricity is generated by coal. Compare that to SRP's 40%!

I suppose all of this is expected.

Phoenix's Renewable Electricity: 6% (mostly water; no substantial solar investments)
Seattles's Renewable Electricity: 94% (a lot of water; large investments in wind energy)

October 3, 2008 11:07 AM

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