Why does fuel cost so much?

Why does fuel costs so much?, The author listed and described various costs in producing and transporting fuel.The process of delivering fuel to the pump starts at being sent to a refinery and then has to be transported to the gas pumps. There are more steps that gas has to get through but I focus on the ones I found the most interesting, because every step gas goes through we get billed for. When we pay for fuel we are paying for all the transportation costs, refinery bills, and we get taxed. Hopefully, after reading this blog post and looking at the gas pump article and photo; we will realize how riding a bike will not only benefit our health, but our wallets too.

Gasoline and diesel fuel update.(2010).Retrieved April 1,2010, from http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/gdu/gasdiesel.asp

About Passive Solar Energy

About Passive Solar Energy and how does it work?
Passive solar energy works with solar panels that absorb the sun’s energy without the use of electric power. The way it works is that it moves the energy or heat throughout the house by transferring and storing the heat in objects (cement blocks, water, and solar panels) in the house.The author also adds that heat is best absorbed by dark panels, because darker colors absorb more heat than glass or opaque colors(Energy 2009). Once the heat is absorbed it is transferred to cooler places in the house until the whole housed it warmed up.There are more ways to use passive solar energy but the author focuses on how it works by using cement, water, or solar panels to store or use the energy, instead of using fossil fuels.

How a Passive Solar Home Design Works.(2009).Retrieved April 1,2010, from http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/designing_remodeling/index.cfm/mytopic=10260

What are blower doors?

The blower doors are fans that are inserted between doors. The fans also have pressure gauges on them, so that you can control the flow of air through the door way. Their use is to help determine where the leaks are in a house. The owner can get the leaks sealed up once they figure out where they all are by using the blower doors. They are useful when determining what areas do not need weatherization. As well as helping to determine if the spot you sealed was done correctly. (U.S. Department of Energy, 2008) In all blower doors help weatherization crews, because it would be hard to find leaks in a house without this technology. Plus it would be tough to know whether or not you did a good job sealing up the leak without the blower door.
I did not know anything about blower doors before reading this article. I find blower doors interesting and I always wondered how weatherization crews knew if they did a good job or not. Also, I think it is awesome that the crews can double check how well they did weatherizing the houses. Plus it is their job to make sure if they sealed up all the leaks in the house. The blower door is almost like a spell check. I also find it funny that these fans can detect leaks in a house, because I would have never thought something so non technological compared to laptop, iphones, and ipods could help weatherization crews. However, I am glad that these blower fans were created to help weatherization crews not only find leaks, but make sure they sealed up all leakks, because it lowers the households energy consumption.

Blower Door Tests.(2009).Retrieved April 1, 2010, from http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/energy_audits/index.cfm/mytopic=11190