Technologically advanced fluorescent lighting, designed to use less energy and still provide the same amount of light, Thorp said, has been used for years. Even efficient systems, however, have their drawbacks. Relatively clean-burning natural gas is utilized in the steam plant, creating byproducts such as water vapor, carbon dioxide and small amounts of sulfur dioxide. These products are not innocent. Carbon dioxide is the largest contributing factor to global warming.
Sulfur dioxide is the leading component in acid rain.
Steve Henson, associate professor of economics at Western, explains the dynamics of energy use to students in his Energy of Economics class. Cost comes in a variety of different forms, Henson said. Even energy sources that you might think of as being relatively environmentally benign are not necessarily so. The point is that you have to look at every stage of the operation and you can t simply point and say wind is good and coal is bad, Henson said. No matter what energy source you consider, there are costs and benefits, and what it comes down to is comparing them in particular situations.