Energy is often defined as the ability to do work.

There are really only a few primary sources of energy available to mankind - the sun, the moon, the earth and nuclear power.

The sun provides us with heat (infra red radiation) which we can absorb, use, or store. The sun also provides visible and ultra violet light which we can convert to electricity and then store as chemical energy. Plants store various wavelengths of visible light and near IR to store in the form of chemical energy. The sun also provides the weather which provides us with water power, wind power and wave power. The sun also causes evaporation which causes powerful ocean currents. All of these secondary solar energy forms can be harnessed by man.

The moon provides us the power of the tides.

The hot molten core of the earth can provide us with geothermal energy.

Nuclear reactions can provide energy in the form of heat and in the future may be able to be converted into other more conventional forms of chemical or electrical energy or a combination thereof.

Oil, natural gas, and coal are all just solar energy which has been stored over millions of years which we are now exhausting within just a few centuries. Oil is the most convenient form of stored energy which we have found because it is an easily stored liquid that is simple to transport, has a high energy density, and is easily combustible yet will not readily explode. Oil is used to make many petrochemicals including gasoline, plastics, and hundreds of thousands of other items. Given the amazing flexibility of oil, should we really just be burning it when we could use the sun to provide many of our space heating, water heating, space cooling, and refrigeration needs?

Historically, it took about 50 years for the world to switch from wood to coal as the primary means of stored energy. It took another 50 years to switch from coal to oil.

The key challenge now is that we must quickly and decisively reduce our oil consumption as a simple energy source and preserve it for use in petrochemicals and other materials where oil cannot easily be replaced.

The first common sense thing to do is to look at how energy is used in the North America, the largest consumer of oil in the world. A quick review of the facts as presented by the U.S. Department of Energy shows the following:
Industrial Energy use - 33%
Residential Energy use - 21%
32% space heating
13% water heating
12% lighting
11% air conditioning
8% refrigeration
5% electronics
5% wet-clean (mostly clothes dryers)
Commercial Energy Use - 17%
25% lighting
13% heating
11% cooling
6% refrigeration
6% water heating
6% ventilation
6% electronics
Transportation Energy use - 28%

If we replace all incandescent light bulbs in America with non polluting long life LED light bulbs (www.omachronlighting.com) we can reduce US energy consumption by 6.77%!

If we replace our inefficient furnaces and hot water heaters with ultra high efficiency furnaces integrated with low cost simple solar space heating and water heating products such as the products developed by Omachron Technologies Inc (www.omachron.com) which pay for themselves in only 1 to 3 years, we could reduce US energy consumption by 12.68%!

If we replace air conditioning, ventilation, and refrigeration systems with solar powered air conditioners such as the products developed by Omachron Technologies Inc (www.omachron.com) which pay for themselves in only 2 to 4 years, we could reduce US energy consumption by 6.88%!

Wayne Conrad