Comments on: CO2 emissions and compact fluorescent bulbs (updated) http://www.fenris.org/2008/02/02/co2-emissions-and-compact-florescent-bulbs "Baby someone is crazy and it's you" Sun, 23 Nov 2008 10:59:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Nelson Cruz http://www.fenris.org/2008/02/02/co2-emissions-and-compact-florescent-bulbs#comment-22600 Nelson Cruz Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:23:51 +0000 http://www.fenris.org/index.php/2008/02/02/co2-emissions-and-compact-florescent-bulbs/#comment-22600 Using electricity for heating is very inefficient. Most electricity is still produced by burning fossil fuels and converting the heat produced to electricity. The problem is only about a third of the heat is converted (33% efficiency). The theoretical maximum is 60% if I remember my thermodynamics classes correctly. And then, even more energy is lost traveling from the power plant. However if you burn something (like gas) directly in your house a lot less heat is wasted. A gas powered water heater is said to be about 85% efficient (some heat escapes up the smokestack). A gas powered air heater, the kind you place in your living room, puts all the heat to proper use! Some heat is still wasted with the extra ventilation required for safe use. A fireplace is likely very inefficient... but the fuel is renewable (usually wood, a form of biomass), so no net CO2 added to the atmosphere. So unless we start generating more than 66% of our electric power from Nuclear plants and renewable sources like wind and solar, electric heating is never going to be better in terms of CO2 emissions, and most likely cost as well. Currently the opposite is true. In the US more than 60% of power still comes from fossil fuels: http://carma.org/region/detail/5 Using electricity for heating is very inefficient. Most electricity is still produced by burning fossil fuels and converting the heat produced to electricity. The problem is only about a third of the heat is converted (33% efficiency). The theoretical maximum is 60% if I remember my thermodynamics classes correctly.

And then, even more energy is lost traveling from the power plant.

However if you burn something (like gas) directly in your house a lot less heat is wasted. A gas powered water heater is said to be about 85% efficient (some heat escapes up the smokestack). A gas powered air heater, the kind you place in your living room, puts all the heat to proper use! Some heat is still wasted with the extra ventilation required for safe use. A fireplace is likely very inefficient… but the fuel is renewable (usually wood, a form of biomass), so no net CO2 added to the atmosphere.

So unless we start generating more than 66% of our electric power from Nuclear plants and renewable sources like wind and solar, electric heating is never going to be better in terms of CO2 emissions, and most likely cost as well. Currently the opposite is true. In the US more than 60% of power still comes from fossil fuels: http://carma.org/region/detail/5

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