Uncover the source of your power

If you’re like me—heck, if you’ve picked up a newspaper, read a newsweekly, or watched the news in recent months—you can’t help but notice the rising environmental awareness in this country. Carbon footprint might not rival Paris Hilton or American Idol when it comes to captivating the U.S. public, but this green concept and many other products and ideas surely have grown in recognition over the past year. (Still, "carbon footprint" generates about 1,430,000 Google links; "Paris Hilton," about 45,000,000.)

All this talk about the environment and energy consumption might have you wondering—as it does me—where the power comes from in your area. That is, what’s providing the electricity that’s keeping your air-conditioning cranking, your plasma TV beaming, and your laptop Googling.

It’s actually pretty easy to find out this information—no Freedom of Information Act requests required. Just use the Power Profiler from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. After you enter your ZIP code and choose the energy supplier in your area, you instantly get a breakdown of the fuel mix that generates the electricity to your home. The EPA tool also lists the emissions rates, in pounds per megawatt-hour.

If you’d have asked me what the electricity-generating power sources are in my area, I would have figured gas and coal were the biggest, followed by oil, nuclear, nonhydro, and hydro. But when I plugged in my New Jersey ZIP code and selected my electricity provider, I was surprised to discover this power breakdown:

• nonhydro renewable sources, like wind or solar: 1 percent (below national average of 2)
• hydro: 2 percent (< national average of 7)
• oil: 3 percent (= national average)
• gas: 10 percent (< national average of 17)
• nuclear: 38 percent (> national average of 20)
• coal: 45 percent (< national average of 50).

The emissions rates are:

• nitrogen oxide: 1.7 (< national average of 2.1)
• sulfur dioxide: 8.0 (> national average of 5.4)
• carbon dioxide: 1,096 (< national average of 1,363).

Curious about the numbers elsewhere in the country, I entered the ZIP code where my sister is in Southern California. Here’s that energy breakdown:

• oil: 1
• nonhydro: 10
• coal: 13
• nuclear: 14
• hydro: 15
• gas: 46.

The emissions rates are:

• nitrogen oxide: 0.8
• sulfur dioxide: 0.6
• carbon dioxide: 879.

What’s all this mean? Beyond having visions of Three Mile Island and The China Syndrome in my very own backyard, I hold even more reason to be envious of my sister and her family. They benefit not only from year-round great weather in their beachfront locale but also comparatively cleaner air. (No, that whole California earthquake thing doesn’t quell my envy.)

But I can take some basic steps to cut down on consumption to save energy and perhaps help improve the air quality in my area. I’m going to follow the advice in our recent “How to buy green electricity” and switch to a provider that uses renewable energy, even if it costs me a bit more. When we’re home, I’ll set the air-conditioning thermostat a few degrees higher during the cooling season (I already turn it off when we’re out of the house). And I’ll recheck the A/C ducts for any loosely sealed spots. (Read “Cool runnings” for more advice on maintaining your air-conditioning.)

There’s much more my family and need to do, but at least that’s a start.—Steven H. Saltzman

Essential information: Visit GreenerChoices.org for the latest news on environmental issues and expert advice on ways to save energy and money every day. And look for our stories on windows, space heaters, compact fluorescent lightbulbs, and much more energy-saving coverage in the October 2007 issue of Consumer Reports, on sale in September.