Macroeconomics: core principles and applications

Energy Economics

Types of Energy/Fuel

Purpose of Use

Gasoline

Personal Transportation

Oil

Heating/Cooking

Propane

Outdoor Grilling

Electricity

Lighting, Computer Access, Charging Handheld Electronic Devices

Throughout my research I have learned a great deal about my personal energy consumption patterns as well as the tactics of some of my primary energy providers. Beginning with the latter area of energy education, I was somewhat surprised to learn of the way in which my electricity is actually generated. Upon conducting extensive industrial research and by examining the websites of several of the nation's top electricity suppliers, I have found that nuclear fission is a regular part of this process. Knowing the history of disasters like Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, I definitely did not expect nuclear production tactics to continue to occur on such a routine basis. Nevertheless, even with popularity of this kind of electricity production technique, my local provider actually uses a complex system of electromechanical generators that are powered by heat engines. And while many such heat engines run on the products of nuclear fission, my local provider has devised a safer and seemingly more cost-effective means of fueling these critical mechanisms using chemical combustion. According to their website along with several trade press reviews, this systems is much more secure and profit-maximizing.

From a personal standpoint I have learned a great deal about what I can do as an individual to become more environmentally conscience. For instance, one simple way for me to effectively decrease my energy use would be to always turn off my computer when I go to sleep. I am often guilty of intentionally forgetting to do this because of the increased time it takes for the computer to boot the next day. Similarly, I have determined that an uncomplicated way for me to become more efficient in my energy use would be to carpool with friends more often in order to save gasoline and reduce harmful emissions. Additionally, I have recently begun replacing the light bulbs in my home with more energy efficient fluorescent light bulbs. This is an extremely simple way for me to increase my energy efficiency by more than 50%. Furthermore, if some change were to occur in my current energy supply system and my energy were to be sourced from Russia, I would certainly expect a much higher price on my bills. Even though Russia has a substantially larger supply of many fuel sources as compared to my local supplier, transportation and distribution costs typically represent a very large percentage of overall energy costs. Therefore, knowing that Russia would have to invest much more in distribution and transportation infrastructures I would expect such costs to be reflected in their pricing model.