Why Electrify?
Your home most likely uses both electricity and gas (or another fossil fuel). If we are to achieve a carbon-free future, we need to move away from gas and electrify everything. Electrifying everything has two converging paths. One is for homes, buildings, and transportation to swap fossil-fueled products to their electric versions. The other path is to have more and more renewable energy on the electric grid. As these paths converge, we will see a fossil-fuel-free future. You can do your part by electrifying your home and vehicle.
🌡️ There are many reasons why we need to move away from fossil fuels. The big one is the climate crisis: fossil fuels are the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. As the Earth warms, we will endure more and more extreme weather-stronger hurricanes, more wildfires, more heat deaths, more deaths from floods, droughts, etc. The last 11 years have been the hottest 11 years on record. This heat will cause death and destruction as heat disrupts weather and ocean levels. It will cost us money and lives. How can you reduce your contribution to the climate crisis? 42% of our energy related emissions come from decisions made around the kitchen table, from heating our home to transportation.
☠️ Another hazard is particulate pollution. Even if climate change weren't a factor, over 8 million people die a year globally from particulate pollution from the burning of fossil fuels. They die from respiratory illness as well as things you wouldn't think of like heart attacks. Jack, from This is Us, after rescuing his family and dog from his burning house didn't die from coughing to death, he died from a heart attack brought on by breathing all that smoke. Even gas or propane stoves can cause respiratory illnesses like asthma. Particulate pollution is particularly bad for our health in many ways.
🌍 International dependency on fossil fuels affects prices here in the U.S. But people argue that here in America we have lots of oil, coal, and natural gas. Who is this "we" you speak of? Unless you are the Clampetts and found oil in your backyard, that "we" is huge corporations. If they can make more money selling overseas, they will, and that will dictate the price here in the U.S. They don't have huge patriotic hearts that would make them sell for less here in the U.S. International conflicts like the war in Ukraine or the closing of the Strait of Hormuz or even natural disasters affect the price of fossil fuels. With renewable energy, the cost of the "fuel" is free because it comes from natural resources like the wind and the sun. Once the solar panels, wind turbines, etc. have been purchased and installed, the only cost left are maintenance costs, but you don't have an ongoing cost for fuel that can fluctuate wildly. That makes the overall cost for renewables very stable and known, making it much easier to plan and build. And now that battery technology has become better, safer, and cheaper, pairing renewables with energy storage works well together.
💲 And finally, electrifying means more efficient use of energy. Only about 25% of the energy in a gas car becomes motion. In EVs that number is around 85%. Air-source heat pumps don't generate heat or cold– they transfer it–making it way more efficient than burning fossil fuels. Induction stoves use electromagnetic energy to heat your food and are a lot more energy efficient than gas. Over and over we see that electrifying makes better use of energy. This results in cost savings for you especially when you look at the whole lifecycle costs. Electrifying is often more expensive upfront, but it will save you money on your utility bills in the long run.
The climate crisis, particulate pollution, international dependency, and energy efficiency are all reasons to motivate you to begin your electrification journey.