Reduce Your Carbon Footprint with Smart Grid Tech
People in the United States use an average of nearly 11,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year to power their homes. The production of this electricity through the combustion of fossil fuels results in greenhouse gas emissions and carbon dioxide. There are factors that are linked to environmental consequences such as global warming.
Forests naturally absorb carbon dioxide and remove it from the atmosphere. Unfortunately, deforestation leads to the addition of more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than all of the cars and trucks on the road in the world. Those trees aren’t coming back anytime soon. Our appetite for electricity combined with the erosion of the world’s forests has created a serious environmental problem.
Greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide equivalents from electricity generation
Forests naturally absorb carbon dioxide and remove it from the atmosphere. Unfortunately, deforestation leads to the addition of more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than all of the cars and trucks on the road in the world. Those trees aren’t coming back anytime soon. Our appetite for electricity combined with the erosion of the world’s forests has created a serious environmental problem.
- 6 passenger vehicles
- 18,527 miles driven by a passenger vehicle
- 5 tons of waste
It’s also the yearly carbon dioxide output equivalent of:
- 870 gallons of gasoline consumed
- 8,249 pounds of coal burned
- 9 barrels of oil consumed
There needs to be a way to make electricity usage more efficient. If we don’t do this, then we could face a future where our children’s children suffer the effects of the choices we made as a society today. Some of those consequences could include increasingly severe weather such as floods, hurricanes, tornados, and heatwaves; food scarcity due to crop failure; air pollution; wildlife extinction; disease and death.
Electricity usage reduction through Smart Grid technology
Smart Grid technology is like a battery that stores energy from the grid. It enables us to store electricity from off-peak periods so that we can use it during peak periods of consumption instead. In other words, it allows us to save energy we’re not using for later when we really need it rather than letting it go to waste. The result can be up to a 50 percent reduction in all of the greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide figures above per household, and the carbon absorption equivalent of:
- 100 trees grown for 10 years
- 7 acres of forests for one year
- One-third of an acre of forest preserved for one year
We as a species depend on the environment to survive. Using Smart Grid technology to power our homes can reduce our individual carbon footprints. This will mitigate the damage done to the environment by the release of carbon dioxide through the combustion of fossil fuels. It’s up to us to make a difference, and Smart Grid technology makes it easier than ever.