Independent Guestatorial: Lean energy: Better thinking for better results

“Money money money money, money

For the love of money

People will steal from their mother

For the love of money

People will rob their own brother

Money money money money, money.” – “For the Love of Money,” The O’Jays

Deepwater Horizon. British Petroleum executives decided to skip a test to save time and money. BP had a long history of cutting corners. More than 200 million gallons of highly toxic crude oil were pumped into the Gulf of Mexico. BP is responsible for more than $56 billion in casualties, wildlife and environmental destruction, cleanup, and fines.

Trump’s Energy Plan unleashes fossil fuel extraction, higher greenhouse emissions, and lower fuel efficiency. All for money, with irreversible harm the environment, economy, and democracy. Like Germany, nature does not make deals based on ignorance and coercion. The love of money is the root of all evil.

Strike Texas crews are drilling under Arkansas Rivers. Ignoring Plains All-American’s track record of spills, and Welspun’s measly quality and safety performance, is beyond comprehension. Is building a line connecting two highly active seismic zones moral behavior?

Lean Thinking

Lean offers smart energy and climate solutions based on facts and logical thinking. Lean seeks simple, right-sized, low-cost, safe energy solutions, using the best available technology. Lean is about carefully making continuous improvements for the good of all.

At the core, lean behavior is simple but rarely seen in traditional organizations: respect others, do your share, tell the truth, speak with data, ask why, and try something new. Lean organizations follow these rules from the top down, every day, with no exceptions. Safety and quality are maintained at all times by everyone.

Lean solutions are discovered by eliminating losses, defects, and waste, from an end-user perspective. Case in point: Would you pay $1 more per gallon for gasoline made with crude stored in tanks for 18 months? Cheese, wine, and women get better with age, most everything else is at risk when stored. Over-production, storage, transportation, and spills are examples of energy waste.

Lean looks at the energy value chain from the end-user point of view using the right metrics. Greenhouse emissions, the main driver of climate change, are caused by: Electricity (30 percent), Transportation (27 percent), Industrial (21 percent), Residential & Commercial (13 percent), and Agriculture (9 percent).

Gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other crude oil products are used mostly for transportation. Instead of extracting more crude oil from shale plays and offshore wells, lean energy eliminates losses and waste involved in driving vehicles. Lean also looks at alternative sources of emission-free energy for heat, air conditioning, lights, brakes, and horsepower.

The amount of greenhouse emissions and fuel are a function of driver behavior, vehicle weight, shape, tire pressure, road conditions, and many other factors.

The transportation sector includes cars and light-duty trucks (passenger vehicles), medium and heavy-duty trucks, buses, trains, ships, and aircraft. Energy use and emissions determined by the fuels used and their carbon content, the efficiency of the vehicle, the distance traveled, and the overall efficiency in transportation system operations. Passenger vehicles consume 57 percent of the total energy.

Hybrid vehicles use a mix of gasoline and electricity stored in long-range batteries. Electric vehicles, with high energy density batteries powered by rooftop solar systems, are emission-free.

Walmart’s aerodynamic freight trucks, using aluminum frames, and thin, flexible ultra-high-efficiency solar panels for air conditioning are some of the lean ways to reduce energy consumption.

Lean Resources

There are several non-profit grassroots organizations promoting lean energy, climate, and social solutions. Here are two of them: The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions’ mission is to advance strong policy and action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote clean energy, and strengthen resilience to climate impacts.

314 Action, named after one of the most intriguing irrational numbers (3.14 for short), is a scientific organization concerned with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics education falling behind, political leaders denying scientific facts, and Congress failing to fund scientific research needed to solve urgent environmental issues.

Dr. Luis Contreras