US energy consumption in 2008

Even considering the fact that most families are already doing their best in order to help the world save energy, the truth is that we are still very far away from what we should be doing in order to save the planet! Below you may read the latest update on energy consumption in the US as you may originally read at ScienceDaily:

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Americans used more solar, nuclear, biomass and wind energy in 2008 than they did in 2007, according to the most recent energy flow charts released by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The nation used less coal and petroleum during the same time frame and only slightly increased its natural gas consumption. Geothermal energy use remained the same.

The estimated U.S. energy use in 2008 equaled 99.2 quadrillion BTUs ("quads"), down from 101.5 quadrillion BTUs in 2007. (A BTU or British Thermal Unit is a unit of measurement for energy, and is equivalent to about 1.055 kilojoules).

Energy use in the industrial and transportation sectors declined by 1.17 and 0.9 quads respectively, while commercial and residential use slightly climbed. The drop in transportation and industrial use - which are both heavily dependent on petroleum - can be attributed to a spike in oil prices in summer 2008.

Last year saw a significant increase in biomass with the recent push for the development of more biofuels including ethanol.

"This is a good snapshot of what's going on in the country. Some of the year-to year changes in supply and consumption can be traced to factors such as the economy and energy policy," said A.J. Simon, an LLNL energy systems analyst who develops the energy flow charts using data provided by the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration.

Simon said the increase in wind energy can be attributed to large investments in wind turbine technologies over the last few years as well as better use of the existing turbines.

Nuclear energy also saw a slight increase from 8.41 quads in 2007 up to 8.45 quads in 2008. While no new nuclear power plants came online in 2008, the existing plants had less down time. Over the last 20 years, the downtime for maintenance and refueling at nuclear power plants had been decreasing.

"There's an incentive to operate as much as possible," Simon said. "It's a smart thing to do. You can't earn revenue by selling electricity when you're down."

Many years of experience have allowed nuclear operators to optimize plant reliability on short maintenance cycles.

The chart also shows the amount of energy rejected by the United States. Of the 99.2 quads consumed, only 42.15 ended up as energy services. Energy services are "things that make our lives better," Simon said. "That's the energy that makes your car move and that comes out of your light bulb."

The ratio of energy services to the total amount of energy used is a measure of the country's energy efficiency. The remainder, explained Simon, "is simply rejected. For example, some rejected energy shows up as waste heat from power plants."

"I'm really excited about the renewed push for energy efficiency in this country," he said. "Because once that energy is rejected, it's no longer useful. But more efficient power plants, automobiles and even light bulbs really do reject less energy while providing the same energy services."

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has helped to visualize the Energy Information Administration's U.S. energy data since the early 1970s.

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Buying a new house for our family

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How should we deal with cruise itinerary changes?

As you probably know, cruises are extremely wanted during the summer by the richest travelers but the truth is that many routes are changed while we are on board! In fact, that was exactly what happened on the msnbc.com article just below, which will give you important tips on how you should deal with these situations and how you can expect to be dealt with:

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By Anita Dunham-Potter

Travel columnist

Fred and Deborah Marenna were looking forward to celebrating their 25th anniversary on the Carnival Miracle. It was the perfect itinerary for celebrating as it would visit exotic Panama and Costa Rica.

But the day before the Connecticut couple was to fly to Fort Lauderdale, things started to fall apart. Their travel agent called with bad news: The Miracle’s entire itinerary was being altered and the ship would no longer be visiting Panama or Costa Rica. The couple had the option to continue the cruise with the revised itinerary that would include a $50 onboard credit or they could opt to receive a full refund.

Money for nothing
The Marennas were devastated as the entire reason they booked the cruise was to visit Panama and Costa Rica so they opted not to go on the sailing and receive a full refund. But they were angry. They were out $100 on airline cancellation fees and $190 for cruise insurance that proved to be useless since it would not cover any loses because the cruise wasn’t canceled.

Fred Marenna felt he was entitled to more restitution and contacted Carnival with his issue. “We have cruised with Carnival several times before and I am surprised we weren’t given some other options like booking us on another cruise with the same itinerary or some other compensation.”

After several letters to the company and not getting any responses he contacted Consumer Traveler for help.

Miracle whipped
I contacted Carnival to get their side of the story and spoke with Carnival spokesperson, Vance Gulliksen. He stated that the December 15, 2008 sailing onboard the Miracle was changed due to a “technical problem” that affected the vessel’s sailing speed. “This made the vessel unable to operate its scheduled eight-day western Caribbean cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Panama, Costa Rica and Belize,” said Gulliksen. The ship’s original three-port itinerary was changed to an alternate route that featured four ports of call: Costa Maya, Cozumel, Belize and Roatan. Gulliksen noted the technical problem only affected the ship’s sailing speed and that all hotel systems were operating normally.

Upon learning of the situation, Gulliksen said Carnival distributed letters to all guests and travel agents with clients the affected sailing on Dec. 12 advising them of the itinerary change. Guests scheduled to sail on the affected voyage were offered the option of receiving of a full refund of their cruise fare or sailing on the modified itinerary and receiving a $50 shipboard credit.

The Miracle’s propulsion problem was subsequently fixed and the ship is currently in New York operating eight-day Caribbean voyages but will resume its eight-day southern and western Caribbean voyages from Fort Lauderdale in October. “Carnival sincerely apologizes for the disruption to the Marenna’s vacation plans,” said Gulliksen. He adds they would gladly work with the Marennas in applying their refunded cruise fare in re-booking one of these voyages.

Fred Marenna doesn’t agree he just wants to sail on the itinerary he purchased or at least be refunded the $290 he lost.

As the prop turns
Propulsion problems on cruise ships are rare, but they do occur. “Cruise lines are typically quite fair with passengers whose vacations are inconvenienced, canceled or have substantially altered itineraries,” says Stewart Chiron, a cruise industry expert who is nationally recognized as The Cruise Guy.

Chiron notes that these issues are often handled as a group, but also on a case-by-case basis. “Cruise lines are in the service business and care a great deal about their passengers,” he says. So, did Carnival do right by the Marennas? According to Chiron, not really. “Carnival should have refunded or credited the value of the insurance premium paid by the Marennas as a goodwill gesture to encourage their future booking. The couple is on their own with the airline change fee because it wasn’t booked through the cruise line.”

As for Fred Marenna, he is disappointed that Carnival didn’t come through and “do the right thing” to rectify the problem. “We were not treated as valued customers of Carnival,” he says.

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