EDUCATE!
Regardless of who will be the next president, it is very important we understand the use of alternative energy. There are some very simple measures that can save almost 45 to 50% energy. In particular solar thermal is a well known technology. Any industry which uses hot water (hotels, motels, commercial laundry, army barracks, poultry industry, alcohol industry, large apartment complexes and the list goes on), should seriously consider installing solar thermal. Besides solar thermal assisted dehumidifiers have done a great job in reducing the A/C demand by almost 35 to 40%. The PCM (phase change materials) have revolutionized the length of time water being kept hot or cold making the solar thermal technology even more attractive.
Countries like Puerto Rico where there is no natural gas and electricity is the only way out,the cost of electricity is 3 to 4 times what we pay on the East coast. Here we calculated that the ROI will be as little as 4 years(without any tax credit) to recoup all the money spent upfront and make a decent profit for almost 15 years.
Recently we visited a US government facility. They brought in outside air at 80 to 90*F at almost 80% relative humidity. This was chilled to 45*F to remove the moisture! It was then reheated using hot water (large commercial boilers which break down within 4 to 5 years due to over working) to 65*F!! Talk about waste of energy and tax payer money. They can easily install solar thermal to heat the huge amount of water, install solar thermal assisted dehumidifiers and reheat using solar thermal heat. The savings calculated was almost 55 to 60%. Lo and behold, they would rather continue to do what they are doing now and keep changing the boilers every 5 to 7 years. Talk about rank stupidity.. Educate, educate, educate.....
