I've only been in Brazil a few weeks, but in that short time it's become clear to me that Americans could massively reduce their energy use and consumption if we followed some of the examples set by Brazilians and other nations.
Spending time in Brazil has made me realize that a lot of the things that we take for granted as necessary, in terms of our energy usage, are just not really necessary. I've put together a list of different ways that Brazilians approach aspects of life that we take for granted. For the US to stop using more energy than any other nation we have to do more than make the energy burners we use more efficient. We have to stop using some of them altogether and switch to different lower energy cost approaches that work well for others.
Let's start with air conditioning.
The Department of Energy reports that 6% of the energy used in the US is used for air conditioning.
I haven't been to a place yet that has had central air conditioning, even some pretty fancy offices. Many Brazilians any kind of air conditioning in contempt. But when they do use it, they use separate units either mounted on the wall near the ceiling or free-standing units, either way, for one room only. The floor units I've encountered use water as part of the cooling process. Bob Stuart, who is helping me with this article, calls them swamp coolers. Compare that to central air conditioning that cools all of the rooms in the house.
And SFGate article, Is Running Central Air Cheaper Than Running Three Wall Air Conditioners, says,"a window unit uses anywhere from 500 to 1440 watts to run, while a 2.5 ton central unit (about the size for a typical 1,500- to 2,000-square-foot home) uses about 3,500 watts." It goes on to argue that a central air conditioning set-up adds value to your house and my cost less if you are air conditioning three or more rooms.
That "adds more value to. your house" premise is part of the problem. We need to get rid of the notion that central air-conditioning is a better way or that it adds value to a house, and we need to replace with the notion that central air is more environmentally damaging and expensive. I rent and the house has both central air conditioning and several window units. When I get back, when summer comes, I'll start using the window units and ceiling fans. Congress should pass legislation that financially encourages the use of room air conditioning, even in high rises. Just as it has given breaks to solar energy it could give breaks and enticements to home builders, home buyers and home improvers. Room air conditioners cost a lot less to install too.
Also, I've long believed that air conditioning contributed to the death of community connection. I write in my book, The Bottom-up Revolution,
"Until the 1950s and '60s, when air conditioning became common, neighbors sat outside on the front porch talking to one another. Air-conditioning drew them indoors, watching TV in isolation."
Brazilians open their windows and get fresh air and they sit outside on their porches. Americans could use more of that kind of connection as. side effect of using less air conditioning.
Getting around town. Cars vs. motorbikes and motorcycles.
The US Dept of Energy offers this graph showing fuel use by vehicle category.
and here's the DOE estimate on per passenger use of energy:
I'd guess that in Brazil there are ten times more people using motorcycles, motorbikes, scooters and the like. A lot of those drivers are women. It's a different culture here. In the states, a vast majority of motorcycles are very expensive, higher gas consuming Harleys, driven by fat old white men. In brazil, much smaller, less gas-guzzling motorbikes are the norm.
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