Oil

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An oil is a substance that is in a viscous liquid state ("oily") at ambient temperatures (room temperature) or slightly warmer, and is both hydrophobic(immiscible with water) and lipophilic (miscible with other oils, literally). This general definition includes compound classes with unrelated chemical structures, properties, and uses, including vegetable oils, petrochemical oils, and volatile essential oils. Oil is a non polar substance. The term oil is often used colloquially to refer to petroleum. Contents [hide] •

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1 Types of oils o

1.1 Mineral oil

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1.2 Organic oil

2 Applications o

2.1 Food oils

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2.2 Fuel

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2.3 Heat transport

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2.4 Lubrication

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2.5 Painting

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2.6 Petrochemicals

3 Other Usages o

3.1 Religion

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4 See also

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5 References

Types of oils 1. Mineral oil All oils, with their high carbon and hydrogen content, can be traced back to organic sources. Mineral oil or liquid petroleum is a by-product in the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline and other petroleum based products from crude oil. It is transparent, colorless oil composed mainly of alkanes (typically 15 to 40 carbons) and cyclic paraffins, related to petroleum jelly (also known as "white petrolatum").

2. Organic oil Oils are also produced by plants, animals and other organisms through organic processes, and these oils are remarkable in their diversity. Applications 1. Food oils Many edible vegetable and animal oils, and also fats, are used for various purposes like in cooking and food preparation. In particular, many foods are fried in oil much hotter than boiling water. Oils are also used for flavoring and for modifying the texture of foods. Health advantages are claimed for a number of specific oils such as omega 3 oils evening primrose oil and olive oil. 2. Fuel Almost all oils burn in air generating heat, which can be used directly, or converted into other forms of fuels by various means. For example, heating water into steam which is funneled into a turbine which turns a generator, which then produces electricity. Oils are used as fuels for heating, lighting (e.g. kerosene lamp), powering combustion engines, and other purposes. Oils used for this purpose nowadays are usually derived from petroleum (fuel oil, diesel oil, gasoline (petrol), etc), though biological oils such as biodiesel are gaining market share. 3. Heat transport Many oils have higher boiling points than water and are electrical insulators, making them useful for liquid cooling systems, especially where electricity is used. 4. Lubrication

Due to their non-polarity, oils do not easily adhere to other substances. This makes oils useful as lubricants for various engineering purposes. Mineral oils are more suitable than biological oils, which degrade rapidly in most environmental conditions. 5. Painting Color pigments can be easily suspended in oil, making it suitable as supporting medium for paints. The slow drying process and miscibility of oil facilitates a realistic style. This method has been used since the 15th century. 6. Petrochemicals Crude oil can be processed into petroleum, plastics, and other substances.

8.Religion Oils have been used throughout history as a fragrant or religious medium. Oil is often seen as a spiritually purifying agent. It is used in religious ceremonies, such as the chrism used in baptism, and has traditionally been used to rub kings and queens. Oil that is associated with one or more saints is known as "oil of saints" and believed by some to have beneficial properties.

Petroleum, Oil, Energy Conservation In the energy sources that we use every day all forms of energy are stored in different ways. These sources are divided into two groups renewable like solar energy, wind energy, biomass etc. And nonrenewable. We get most of our energy from nonrenewable energy sources, which include the fossil fuels -- oil, natural gas, and coal. Oil and gas conservation means their better and more efficient use with regard to economic, social or environmental costs and benefits, resulting in attainment of higher energy use efficiencies, minimization of wasteful practices and wastage and protection of the environment. Conservation of petroleum, oil and energy are concern of many industries today. A large number of petroleum, oil and energy conservation equipment is available in the market for a wide variety of applications suiting different industrial purposes. They come in various different price ranges suiting individual's pocket. Their main function is to conserve precious energy like petroleum and oil.

These petroleum, oil and energy conservation products are also available in different sizes, shapes, features, provide a wide variety of functions and are used in many industrial sectors. Some of these products are prove to be cost effective and also helps in preserving valuable energy. Petroleum is used mostly, by volume, for producing fuel oil and gasoline (petrol), both important primary energy sources. 84% of the hydrocarbons present in petroleum are converted into energyrich petroleum-based fuels, including gasoline, diesel, jet, heating, and other fuel oils, and liquefied petroleum gas. Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring liquid found in formations in the earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various lengths. Crude oil is used mostly for producing fuel oil and petrol, both important primary energy sources. Synthetic oil could be made to be a substitute for crude oil or specially made to be a substitute for a lubricant oil such as conventional or mineral motor oil refined from petroleum. Synthetic oil is not refined from crude oil, but constructed from pure chemicals selected for their ability to lubricate. Synthetic oil is oil consisting of chemical compounds which were not originally present in crude oil but were artificially made from other compounds. When synthetic oil is made as a substitute for lubricant refined from crude oil, it is generally to provide superior mechanical and chemical properties than those found in traditional mineral oils. With no paraffin to congeal at low temperatures, synthetic motor oil maintain better low temperature fluidity than petroleum crude oil do, which protects equipment operating in cold environments even the relative cold of a just started engine. The technical advantages of synthetic motor oils include - better chemical & shear stability, decreased evaporative loss, resistance to oxidation, thermal breakdown and oil sludge problems, extended drain intervals with the environmental benefit of less waste oil created. Synthetic oil also have some disadvantages like it is three times expensive than crude oil, potential decomposition problems in certain chemical environments.

Energy Conservation Energy is the resources that we are using something that will never run out? The answer to this is no. We are using mainly nonrenewable resources for our energy, and this means that given time they will run out. I would like to talk about energy conservation and what it can do for everyone. I think it is also important to talk about the effects that these nonrenewable resources have on the environment; and why that fact makes it that much more important that we change to cleaner renewable resources. Problem Description What is energy conservation anyways? Energy conservation is the practice of decreasing the quantity of energy used. It can be achieved by using what energy we have efficiently. The reason that is such a big topic these days is because of the problems at hand with the way we are dealing with energy. The energy we waste every day is one of the biggest factors to air pollution there is. Fourteen percent of the air pollution that is caused each year is just from the electricity from our homes alone. That is twice as much as transportation. Now on the other hand sixty percent of the air pollution caused each year in America is caused from the goods and services that we buy. This comes from the production and the delivery of these goods. This is only one of the problems though; the other is the fact that we are using nonrenewable resources, such as the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, natural gas and gasoline. With these nonrenewable resources given some time they will run out and in the mean time while we continue to use them we continue poison our planet with pollution. The poisons that I am talking about are thing such as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxides, volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, lead and mercury. Every single one of these poisons are something that we willing put into our atmosphere every day and by doing this we are leaving our self’s open to health issues.

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Energy efficiency and conservation are necessary, because energy consumption is a major cause of environmental degradation. All types of energy use result in environmental costs, it’s just a matter of degree. And most modern American activities seem to involve energy consumption. Our transportation, food production, manufacturing, governments, recreation and household management all consume energy. At the same time, our major energy supplies (oil, coal, and gas) are finite. They are not renewable, yet we burn through these fuels as if there were no tomorrow. The energy supplies which are renewable (solar, wind, thermal) are not being used as widely or thoughtfully as they should be. Given these facts, we need to reduce our energy consumption and environmental damage to the extent we can, and come into balance with natural energy recovery and production processes. We need to develop truly sustainable energy consumption practices, or our children and grandchildren will suffer.

Environmental Costs of Energy Consumption Climate Change --- Most scientists now agree that human energy consumption from burning organic sources (oil, coal, gas, biomass) and other human activities have changed the chemical composition of the Earth’s atmosphere, which in turn will influence the behavior of global climate patterns. Overall, the atmosphere and the world’s oceans are warming, leading to major changes in air circulation and ocean currents. Some countries may experience warming, while others may see cooling. Drought may descend on wet areas, while dry regions become unnaturally wet. Storm patterns may change drastically in some areas, resulting in catastrophic hurricanes, monsoons, tornados, floods and blizzards. As the ocean warms, the water expands and raises sea levels, which will submerge low-lying coastal areas and islands, affecting millions of people. Scientists don’t agree on how quickly the atmosphere is warming or on all the consequences, but it

is safe to say that we’re in the midst of a dangerous and costly experiment in weather modification.

Air Pollution --- Most forms of energy generation produce large amounts of air pollution as a byproduct (except solar and wind). The burning of fossil fuels and biomass will result in carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, carbon monoxide, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH’s, such as benzoa-pyrene), ozone and radioactive emissions. These emissions are a direct threat to public health.

Land Destruction and Habitat Loss --- The extraction of oil, coal and natural gas are extremely destructive to natural environments. Coal mining and transportation has destroyed millions of acres of natural forests, meadows and farmland across the world and runoff from coal mining has contaminated many lakes and streams. Oil extraction, refining and transportation has been similarly damaging, with toxic contamination and degradation at the extraction point, and multitudes of small and large oil spills in oceans around the world. Oil refineries are notorious for their toxic air and water impacts. Even natural gas, which is considered a “clean” fuel, requires destructive extraction and pipeline practices. Electrical and transmission lines can also impact large areas of land.

Toxic Contamination --- In addition to the toxic pollutants listed under air pollution, many toxic trace contaminants are released from fuel burning, including serious contaminants such as mercury, arsenic, lead, and chlorinated organics such as dioxin.

Water Pollution --- Fuel burning also results in fallout from the air of toxic contaminants that gradually build up in the sediments of wildlife of our rivers, lakes and streams. Acid rain is still an active concern in many areas, poisoning our waterways, damaging property and reducing the productivity of our forests and croplands.

Radioactive Waste --- Despite claims by its proponents, nuclear energy is far from “clean,” in that uranium mining has despoiled many large tracts of land with direct radioactive contamination and wind erosion of radioactive dusts. After decades of investigation, the nuclear industry has also failed to find a safe means of disposing of radioactive wastes which are accumulating too rapidly and will remain dangerous for thousands of years. The potential for nuclear accidents or sabotage is also a concern.

Wildlife Impacts --- All of the factors above contribute to the loss of wildlife habitat and to poisoning of wildlife. Many species are being decimated to the point of extinction, with climate change likely to push many over the edge. They don’t have time to adapt.

Aesthetic Damage --- All this damage reduces our quality of life, diminishing the beauty of many areas where we live.

21 Ways You Can Save Energy If we reduce energy consumption, we can avoid construction of new power plants and other negative energy impacts. The savings below are expressed primarily as reduced Carbon dioxide emissions (a prime cause of Climate Change), but many other environmental damages will also be equally reduced. Carbon dioxide savings are averages, but your savings may be even higher. Keep in mind that as you save energy, you also save money!

1. Efficient Transportation --- Transportation is a leading energy consumer. In the U.S., vehicles use more gasoline each year than the entire U.S. oil industry produces. Try to live near your work or school, and use public transportation, carpool, walk, or bike when you can. Replace your SUV with one of the new hybrid gas and electric cars and you could save as much as $11,000 on gas and produce 107 fewer tons of carbon dioxide. The new efficient hybrids are reliable and drive (and refuel) just like a standard car, with no need to recharge batteries. (see Improving Our Transportation Systems for more energy savings.)

2. Better Appliances --- Purchase energy efficient household appliances. This can make an enormous difference. For example: if you replace your 1972 refrigerator with a 2001 model, you may cut your carbon dioxide emissions by 1,100 lbs. a year and save $80 a year on your energy bill. (Install the dishwasher away from your refrigerator: the dishwasher's heat and moisture make the fridge work harder.) Replace your top-loading washing machine with a front-loader, and you may save $100 a year in energy, water and detergent. A new Energy Star refrigerator uses about 20% less energy than a standard new refrigerator and 46% less than one made before 1980. A new Energy Star washing machine uses nearly 50% less energy than a standard washer.” (For details, visit: Energy Starhttp://www.energystar.gov)

3. Cold Water Wash and Line Dry --- Washing clothes in cold water reduces your washer's energy use by 75% and saves almost 500 lbs. of CO2 per year. Drying clothes outside in the fresh air and sunlight not only lengthens the life of your clothes but also saves energy and 1,386 lbs. of CO2 emissions. When you need to use the clothes dryer, run full loads and use the moisture-sensing setting. Clean the lint trap after each

Refrigerators are Energy Hogs

use and clear the outdoor dryer vent frequently to eliminate blockage and reduce resistance. The same techniques apply to dish washing: Always do full loads when using your dishwasher and washing machine. Conserve energy by turning off the dry cycle on your dishwasher and air-dry the dishes instead.

4. Refrigeration Tips --- Maintain your refrigerator and freezer at the right temperature. If they're only 10 degrees F colder than necessary, your energy consumption will jump 25 percent. The refrigerator should be between 38 and 42 degrees F and the freezer between 0 and 5 degrees F. Make sure the door is sealed tightly. Check the gasket (rubber seal) for cracks and dried-on food. Choose a refrigerator with a freezer on top rather than a side-by-side unit. On average, the savings amount to 20 percent.

5. Air Conditioning --- In our part of the country, air conditioning is seldom necessary in a well-insulated home. If you increase your air conditioning thermostat by only 3°F you can save an average of 470 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year. You can save up to 3% of energy consumed for each degree the thermostat is set above 72 degrees. Ceiling or room fans can also be used to cool rooms significantly while using less energy than air conditioning. An attic "whole house" fan is an effective way of cooling your home without using the air conditioner. It forces hot air out of your home and draws cooler air in through attic vents.

6. Unplug Unnecessary Appliances --- Unplug the extra refrigerator in your basement or garage, and save 448 lbs of carbon dioxide per year. Unplug appliances like microwaves, stereos, VCRs and printers that do not have to be on all the time, but use energy when plugged in. Simply unplugging these appliances can save a lot of energy. If possible, unplug electronic devices and chargers that have a block-shaped transformer on the plug when they are not in use.

7. Lighting --- For every 75-watt incandescent light bulb which you replace with a 20watt compact fluorescent, you’ll get the same amount of light but save 1,300 lbs. of CO2 and $55. (Compact fluorescents screw into regular sockets.) Fluorescents save 75% of the energy, yet they last much longer. Turn off unneeded lights, and save 376 lbs of carbon dioxide per year. Also, keep bulbs dust-free. Dust on a light bulb or dirt on a glass fixture can reduce the light it emits by 10 percent and make it seem that you need a higher-wattage light. When building a new home, include natural lighting features (skylights, suntubes, larger south-facing windows, etc.) to reduce the need for artificial lights. Adjust your schedule when possible to be active in daylight and sleep during the dark.

8. Home Heating ---Lower your thermostat in winter by 2° F and save 353 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year. Change furnace filters often because dirty filters restrict airflow and waste energy. Keep your furnace clean and properly adjusted. Switch from an oil or electric heating system to natural gas, which is more efficient. Replace simple dial-type

thermostats with smart programmable thermostats. These units allow you to set the heating and cooling system to take a break while you're asleep or out, then come on at preset times to keep you comfortable when you wake up or come home. In an average house this can reduce emissions by 1,000 pounds per year—not to mention producing significant savings on your energy bill, with a quick payback of the $50–100 cost. Dress warmly to stay comfortable without turning up the heat. Lower the thermostat to 55 degrees or off at night or when leaving the house/office for an extended period of time. For every degree you lower your heat in the 60-degree to 70-degree range, you'll save up to 5% on heating costs.

9. Oven Smarts --- Minimize the number of times you open an oven door during cooking. Each time, you lose 25 to 50 degrees or more. Do not preheat longer than necessary. Ten minutes should be sufficient. Preheating is not necessary when broiling.

10. Reduce Your Home Size --- If you’re about to build or buy a new home, aim for something smaller. Many new homes are much larger per person than in the past, which increases home energy consumption dramatically for construction, heating, dehumidifying and cooling. The median size of a newly built U.S. home in 1970 was 1,500 square feet. By 2000, it had increased to 2,300 square feet, even though the median family's income hasn't changed much and family sizes are smaller now.

11. Seal Air Leaks --- One of the least expensive and most effective ways to reduce energy consumption in the home is to seal air leaks. A simple effort to weatherize your home—especially to seal any large air gaps in the attic and basement—can reduce a typical home's greenhouse gas emissions by 1,300 pounds per year. Keep your fireplace damper closed unless a fire is burning to prevent heated air from escaping through the chimney. Avoid using kitchen, bathroom and other ventilating fans in excess, as these can eject a significant amount of heated or cooled air in a very short period of time.

12. Add Insulation --- Adding attic insulation is also highly effective and can save an additional 1,300 pounds of CO2. Adding wall, attic, and basement insulation costs more per unit of energy saved, but can trim a home's CO2 emissions by 2,000 pounds per year. Pool blankets -- insulating sheets that float on the surface -- cut the energy consumption of pool heaters up to 70 percent.

13. Window Efficiency --- Adding air-gap window films or low-e films to existing windows, while not always cost-effective, can reduce your home's emissions by 1,000 pounds per year. When possible, replace old windows with new high performance, energy efficient (double-paned) windows or install storm windows. Curtains and shades can also help prevent hot or cold air from escaping.

14. Smart Landscaping --- Shading your east and west windows with overhangs or trellises or by planting shade trees are also effective ways to reduce unwanted heat gain on hot, sunny days. They also act as windbreaks in winter. Also, Plant trees or shrubs to shade air-conditioning units (but not to block the airflow.) A unit operating in the shade uses as much as 10% less electricity than the same one operating in the sun.

15. Duct Work --- Sealing and insulating heating and cooling ducts is a more expensive job, but saves more energy and therefore can reduce your emissions by an average of 1,300 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. Upgrading your heating or cooling equipment with new technology and making sure these units are regularly tuned (typically every year) will also reduce emissions by several hundred pounds.

16. Hot Water Efficiency --- Turn down your water heater to 120°F (from the usual 145°F), and you may save 163 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year. Reduce hot water consumption by installing efficient showerheads, faucets and other fixtures (see Water Conservation Tips). You can insulate the water heater with an insulating blanket. This is especially valuable for older water heaters with little internal insulation. (Be sure to leave the air intake vent uncovered when insulating a gas water heater.) When buying a new water heater, look for the most efficient and properly sized type with the lowest life-cycle cost. Better yet, install a solar hot water heater.

17. Save Energy at Work --- Turn off office equipment when not in use. Reduce energy consumption and equipment wear by setting computers, monitors, and copiers to sleep-mode. Better yet, turn them all the way off if you are not going to use them for an extended period of time, particularly when you go home at the end of the workday. To keep it simple, just plug your computer, scanner and printer into one power strip that can be switched off after shutting down your computer. Do the same with the microwave in the office lunchroom, and other office appliances which are always on otherwise. Over your lunch break, turn off your computer monitor. This will save energy without losing your work or having to reboot. Encourage your co-workers to do the same.

18. Limit Your “Stuff” Consumption --- Virtually every physical object you buy in a store requires energy for its production and/or operation. This includes clothing, accessories, household furnishings, office supplies, appliances, sporting goods, decorative objects, and toys - which all consume energy. We could easily have happy, fulfilled lives while reducing this consumption, and save tremendous energy (and money) in the process. Unclutter your life and live more simply. When you do buy, try to purchase locally made goods and avoid energy costs due to long-distance transportation.

19. Eat a Vegetarian Diet --- The production of meat, dairy, and eggs is energy intensive. We can all reduce our food energy consumption by eating plant proteins directly, converting at least some of our daily meals to vegetarian dishes. This will also be healthier for you and your family, save money, reduce water consumption, reduce water pollution, reduce landuse impacts of livestock production, and reduce the potential for animal cruelty. For more information, visit: The Vegetarian Resource Group http://www.vrg.org/ Vegetarian Times http://www.vegetariantimes.com/

In a Vegetarian Kitchen http://www.vegkitchen.com/

20. Limit Your Family Size --- Each person requires energy to live. Our human population is rapidly rising to levels which make it difficult to provide adequate energy while sustaining a healthy environment. If each couple limited themselves to no more than 2 children, our world’s population could stabilize and support everyone without conflict or suffering.

21. Get Involved and Talk to Your Legislators --- Many of our current governmental regulations are not helpful for conserving energy, and some policies actually reward large energy users with lower bulk rates. Citizens need to contact their legislators and ask for better policies.

Why is it important to conserve energy? All of us use energy every day – for entertainment, cooking, transportation, lighting, heating and cooling homes, manufacturing, etc. We consume a lot of energy. The United States consumes about one fourth of the world’s energy resources.

When energy is produced from non-renewable fuels, to heat our homes or power our cars for example, pollutants are released into the air contaminating the air we breathe and water too. The more energy we use or miles we drive in our cars, the more energy power plants must produce or gasoline our cars burn, releasing more pollutants into the air. By conserving energy we can lower the amount of pollutants we release into the air and water and thereby help to keep our environment clean. Additionally, if we use less energy we can save money on our electric bill or reduce the amount of money we spend on gasoline. So you can help the environment and save money at the same time!

Additionally, we can use energy sources that are clean and efficient.

As someone that has to pay bills each month, you already know the importance of energy conservation. There is no way for you to have not noticed that your bills have been increasing. It has happened and is one thing that you just should consider doing. But, energy conservation is not always something that is on our minds. If you find yourself only thinking about it when the bills for the month arrive, then you may be missing the boat. Why You Need To Know Energy conservation is helpful in a number of ways to each of us. The most profound way that affects us directly is the cost. If you just turn off a few lights, you may not notice it. But, if you do several things to keep yourself in line with your energy goals, you may find yourself able to really save money here. Energy costs continue to rise and even if they slow down in that rise, they are not likely to come down. If you want to cut your bill down, then, you must use less energy. Yet, there are other reasons for conserving energy as well. Consider, for example, the fact that one of the most vital fuels that we all rely on is that of oil. Some scientists believe that we will run out of oil within the next 60 years. Can you image the cost of your bills then? Still, consider the fact that many of these energy needs also produce toxins in the air. That makes them not only running out but also destroying the environment while they do it. As you can see, there are many reasons why you, as a citizen of Earth should consider energy conservation in your daily life. Even if you just cut back slightly here and there, you will notice a difference in your bill but not necessary in your overall lifestyle. There are many benefits to taking care of the energy we use. It is a good thing for all of us to take into consideration as well. The end result is a result that satisfies everyone’s needs.

20 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO CONSERVE ENERGY Whenever you save energy, you not only save money, you also reduce the demand for such fossil fuels as coal, oil, and natural gas. Less burning of fossil fuels also means lower emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary contributor to global warming, and other pollutants. You do not have to do without to achieve these savings. There is now an energy efficient alternative for almost every kind of appliance or light fixture. That means that consumers have a real choice and the power to change their energy use on a revolutionary scale. The average American produces about 40,000 pounds of CO2 emissions per year. Together, we use nearly a million dollars worth of energy every minute, night and day, every day of the year. By exercising even a few of the following steps, you can cut your annual emissions by thousands of pounds and your energy bills by a significant amount!

Home appliances 1. Turn your refrigerator down. Refrigerators account for about 20% of Household electricity use. Use a thermometer to set your refrigerator temperature as close to 37 degrees and your freezer as close to 3 degrees as possible. Make sure that its energy saver switch is turned on. Also, check the gaskets around your refrigerator/freezer doors to make sure they are clean and sealed tightly.

2. Set your clothes washer to the warm or cold water setting, not hot. Switching from hot to warm for two loads per week can save nearly 500 pounds of CO2 per year if you have an electric water heater, or 150 pounds for a gas heater.

3. Make sure your dishwasher is full when you run it and use the energy saving setting, if available, to allow the dishes to air dry. You can also turn off the drying cycle manually. Not using heat in the drying cycle can save 20 percent of your dishwasher's total electricity use.

4. Turn down your water heater thermostat. Thermostats are often set to 140 degrees F when 120 is usually fine. Each 10 degree reduction saves 600 pounds of CO2 per year for an electric water heater, or 440 pounds for a gas heater. If every household turned its water heater thermostat down 20 degrees, we could prevent more than 45 million tons of annual CO2 emissions - the same amount emitted by the entire nations of Kuwait or Libya.

5. Select the most energy-efficient models when you replace your old appliances. Look for the Energy Star Label - your assurance that the product saves energy and prevents pollution. Buy the product that is sized to your typical needs - not the biggest one available. Front loading washing machines will usually cut hot water use by 60 to 70% compared to typical machines. Replacing a typical 1973 refrigerator with a new energyefficient model, saves 1.4 tons of CO2 per year. Investing in a solar water heater can save 4.9 tons of CO2 annually.

Home Heating and Cooling 6. Be careful not to overheat or overcool rooms. In the winter, set your thermostat at 68 degrees in daytime, and 55 degrees at night. In the summer, keep it at 78. Lowering your thermostat just two degrees during winter saves 6 percent of heating-related CO2 emissions. That's a reduction of 420 pounds of CO2 per year for a typical home.

7. Clean or replace air filters as recommended. Energy is lost when air conditioners and hot-air furnaces have to work harder to draw air through dirty filters. Cleaning a dirty air conditioner filter can save 5 percent of the energy used. That could save 175 pounds of CO2 per year.

Small investments that pay off 8. Buy energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs for your most-used lights. Although they cost more initially, they save money in the long run by using only 1/4 the energy of an ordinary incandescent bulb and lasting 8-12 times longer. They provide an equivalent amount of bright, attractive light. Only 10% of the energy consumed by a normal light

bulb generates light. The rest just makes the bulb hot. If every American household replaced one of its standard light bulbs with an energy efficient compact fluorescent bulb, we would save the same amount of energy as a large nuclear power plant produces in one year. In a typical home, one compact fluorescent bulb can save 260 pounds of CO2 per year.

9. Wrap your water heater in an insulating jacket, which costs just $10 to $20. It can save 1100 lbs. of CO2 per year for an electric water heater, or 220 pounds for a gas heater.

10. Use less hot water by installing low-flow shower heads. They cost just $10 to $20 each, deliver an invigorating shower, and save 300 pounds of CO2 per year for electrically heated water, or 80 pounds for gas-heated water.

11. Weatherize your home or apartment, using caulk and weather stripping to plug air leaks around doors and windows. Caulking costs less than $1 per window, and weather stripping is under $10 per door. These steps can save up to 1100 pounds of CO2 per year for a typical home. Ask your utility company for a home energy audit to find out where your home is poorly insulated or energy inefficient. This service may be provided free or at low cost. Make sure it includes a check of your furnace and air conditioning.

Getting around 12. Whenever possible, walk, bike, car pool, or use mass transit. Every gallon of gasoline you save avoids 22 pounds of CO2 emissions. If your car gets 25 miles per gallon, for example, and you reduce your annual driving from 12,000 to 10,000 miles, you'll save 1800 pounds of CO2.

13. When you next buy a car, choose one that gets good mileage. If your new car gets 40 miles per gallon instead of 25, and you drive 10,000 miles per year, you'll reduce your annual CO2 emissions by 3,300 pounds.

Reduce, reuse, recycle 14. Reduce the amount of waste you produce by buying minimally packaged goods, choosing reusable products over disposable ones, and recycling. For every pound of waste you eliminate or recycle, you save energy and reduce emissions of CO2 by at least 1 pound. Cutting down your garbage by half of one large trash bag per week saves at least 1100 pounds of CO2 per year. Making products with recycled materials, instead of from scratch with raw materials, uses 30 to 55% less for paper products, 33% less for glass, and a whopping 90% less for aluminum.

15. If your car has an air conditioner, make sure its coolant is recovered and recycled whenever you have it serviced. In the United States, leakage from auto air conditioners is the largest single source of emissions of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which damage the ozone layer as well as add to global warming. The CFCs from one auto air conditioner can add the equivalent of 4800 pounds of CO2 emissions per year.

Home Improvements. When you plan major home improvements, consider some of these energy saving investments. They save money in the long run, and their CO2 savings can often be measured in tons per year.

16. Insulate your walls and ceilings. This can save 20 to 30 percent of home heating bills and reduce CO2 emissions by 140 to 2100 pounds per year. If you live in a colder climate, consider superinsulating. That can save 5.5 tons of CO2 per year for gas-heated homes, 8.8 tons per year for oil heat, or 23 tons per year for electric heat. (If you have electric heat, you might also consider switching to more efficient gas or oil.)

17. Modernize your windows. Replacing all your ordinary windows with argon filled, doubleglazed windows saves 2.4 tons of CO2 per year for homes with gas heat, 3.9 tons of oil heat, and 9.8 tons for electric heat.

18. Plant shade trees and paint your house a light color if you live in a warm climate, or a dark color if you live in a cold climate. Reductions in energy use resulting from shade trees and appropriate painting can save up to 2.4 tons of CO2 emissions per year. (Each tree also directly absorbs about 25 pounds of CO2 from the air annually.)

Business and community 19. Work with your employer to implement these and other energy-efficiency and wastereduction measures in your office or workplace. Form or join local citizens' groups and work with local government officials to see that these measures are taken in schools and public buildings.

20. Keep track of the environmental voting records of candidates for office. Stay abreast of environmental issues on both local and national levels, and write or call your elected officials to express your concerns about energy efficiency and global warming.

Ways to Conserve Energy If you want to know about some easy ways of conserving energy, read this article.

Energy crisis is one of the biggest crises that the world is going to face in the near future. We have come to a juncture where we cannot stop it from happening, given the kind of demand that we have and also the absence of a suitable substitute, but we can certainly defer the arrival of this imminent occurrence. So here we would discuss about some of the ways of conserving energy. Before giving you the ways of conserving energy let me tell what we are trying to conserve. We would try to conserve anything that uses coal, natural gas or oil since these are exhaustible sources of energy. Useful Ways to Conserve Energy •

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We should start with reducing the consumption of energy that we use in our daily lives like electricity, fuel and water; it is necessary to conserve water as well because the water that we get in our homes comes as a result of purification which also requires energy in some form. Most of us have a bad habit of leaving the lights, fans and the television turned on even when we are not in the room. So we become a little more attentive and careful we can actually save a lot of energy. The refrigerator of your house has a thermostat, which controls the temperature inside it but then there are energy saver or power savers that do it more effectively than others. Besides this also look for leaks from where outside air can enter the refrigerator, if yes then try and block those leaks. Then lets come to your dishwasher, which uses up lesser energy when you put many dishes in it and wash it than washing every dish manually. But if you try and make two compartments in your sink so that you can soap wash and clean the dishes in a compartment full of water you would be able to save a lot of energy. When you take a bath and need the water heater try and lower the temperature when the thermostat cuts off the electricity supply so that a higher temperature is not set and the electricity supply can be cut off at a lower temperature. Next lets come to the washing machine, which can also be used wisely to save some energy. When you set the washing machine set it to warm and not hot since that takes up more energy but the output remains the same. When you use the room heaters check if the dampers are on or not because dampers work against the heater and hence therefore more energy is required to heat the room. When summer season comes try and use the air conditioner in the fan mode so that the usage of electricity reduces. You can also save oil by opting for a carpool than going in your car and spend four times more oil than you actually need to.

Besides saving energy in all these ways we should also opt for a substitute source of energy like solar power, if not all appliances but few can definitely be supported by solar power and if every

home follows and implements this suggestion we would save up energy that would be sufficient for a whole day in a country which is still developing. Energy Conservation

The strategy developed to make power available to all by 2012 includes promotion of energy efficiency and its conservation in the country, which is found to be the least cost option to augment the gap between demand and supply. Nearly 25,000 MW of capacity creation through energy efficiency in the electricity sector alone has been estimated in India. Energy conservation potential for the economy as a whole has been assessed as 23% with maximum potential in industrial and agricultural sectors. Energy Conservation Day function Energy

ENERGY CONSERVATION ACT

Conservation

Act,

2001

(HTML) (PDF)

Considering the vast potential of energy savings and benefits of energy efficiency, the Government of India enacted the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 (52 of 2001). The Act provides for the legal framework, institutional arrangement and a regulatory mechanism at the Central and State level to embark upon energy efficiency drive in the country. Indian Industry Programme for Energy Conservation (IIPEC) Under IIPEC the Task Groups for Textile, Cement, Pulp & Paper, Fertilizer, Chlor-Alkali, and Aluminium have been formed and the first meetings of these groups have taken place at Chhindhwada (M.P.), Beawar (Rajasthan), Ballarpur (Maharashtra), Mumbai (Maharashtra) and Hirakud (Orissa) respectively. Each Task Force is being headed by stakeholders and BEE is actively involved in organising the programmes. The Members from the industry participate in this project for sharing Best Practices, declaring their voluntary targets and benchmarking, etc. The voluntary targets undertaken by the Members from Cement and Pulp & Paper sector will alone result in saving of Rs.175 crores and Rs.51 crores respectively by 2005-06. SHORT TERM MEASURES 1.Energy Conservation • Bureau of Energy Efficiency operationalized Complete pilot phase of programme for energy efficiency in government buildings and prepare action plan for wider dissemination and implementation. 2. Energy audit of government buildings • Energy Audit completed for nine govt. buildings.

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Legal Performance contract agreement, payment security mechanism, bids selection and evaluation criteria provided to all building owners for implementation.

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Five Building owners have floated tenders.

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Monitoring and verification of energy savings from March 2005.

3. Capacity building amongst departments to take up energy efficiency programmes • BEE to train core group members to implement energy efficiency in buildings. LONG TERM MEASURES

Potential

of

23,700

MW

assessed

The Thrust Areas : 1. Industry specific Task Forces. 2. Notifying more industries as designated consumers.

by

end

of

XIth

Plan