Thomas Friedman’s latest book – Hot, Flat, and Crowded – is another best seller.  Similar to his previous book – The World is Flat – he shares a worldwide perspective on changes which are occurring in a very dramatic shift in world demographics and related political evolutions.

From his perspective the world is warming at an alarming rate caused by overuse of fossil fuel.  He points out that Europeans have been energy conscious for decades and properly treat fuel as a limited resource.

Whether it is his book or other sources that stimulate us to look at our energy usage, it is clear that there is a trend in communities to become energy conscious and sustainable.

Wind energy offers a renewable alternative to fossil fuels all acros the U.S.

Energy conservation, whether to save costs or to save the planet, is a concept every community embraces and encourages.  It will not be long before the success of water and wastewater facilities are measured by the energy efficiencies.    As the world becomes hotter, flat and crowded, what can water and wastewater designers and staff do to maximize the energy efficiency of their facilities?

For the new plant designer:

• Select motor starters for energy conservation and peak power demand reduction
• Select the very highest motor efficiencies
• Select Variable Speed Drives (VSD’s) based on total system efficiencies
• Place watt  meters on “screen savers” on SCADA systems
• Design facilities which provide for “benchmarked” minimized carbon footprints – from beneficial utilization of biogas to use of energy mass balance equation

For existing plant staff:

• Assign a key staff person as “energy Czar” and provide her/him with a budget and decision making powers
• Monitor Power trends, plot it, and report on it…for every possible meter site you have.  This may be only one meter (main facility meter) but monitor it and report it to all members of the staff – on a prominent bulletin board and – of course, if you have it – on SCADA screens
• Require your engineer to integrate energy conservation and efficiency in your next design or upgrade
• Request an evaluation of power consumption at your facility and compare it to world standards for equivalent treatment (often available at no charge by people such as “Focus on Energy” or your power provider)
• Implement one or two key energy reduction initiatives at your facility and bring these to the attention of your management or city mayor or village president – and, the local newspaper
• Ask your regulatory agencies (such as EPA or DNR or your power company) what they can do to help you make an incremental improvement in power reduction
• Engage your local schools/teachers in projects where they can help you monitor changes/improvements.  Children are very “green” these days…we all can learn a lot from them and they want to help.

Together, all things are possible.  And, we are on this small planet, together.  So lead, follow, or get the “h” out of the way!  But do something about it…water and wastewater utilities are consuming () 5 to 7% of your community’s power!

Don