Joe Guasti Construction offers answers to energy shortages

Energy demands and prices are climbing, and experts say it will only get worse. Joe Guasti, owner of Joe Guasti Construction, explained that the demand on the public supply of electricity is continuously growing as more homes are being built daily. Yet, the infrastructure to create more power and bring it to our homes is not being built to match the energy demands.

As our demands on the electric grid increase, we will experience more brownouts (where the lights flicker but do not go out), followed by increased blackouts and large outages.

"We're going to have real problems," Guasti said. "Real outages -- not just brownouts, but true shortages."

According to Guasti, shortages are starting to show in oil production worldwide. He explained that the world will never run out of oil, just oil that is cheap and easy to get out of the ground and produce.

The lifespan of an oil well, Guasti explained, is about 10 years. At first, the oil gushes out of the ground. Then, as the pressure eases, the oil has to be pumped out. Finally, in what is called the 'tertiary stage,' innovative and intensely expensive measures are called for to get oil from the depleted well.

The problem, he said, is that too many of our current wells are old and we can not tap new oil pools fast enough to meet the rising demand. Worldwide, oil production vs. demand, known as the 'slack capacity,' is getting too close.

"We are at nearly 100 percent production capacity now and starting to see hiccups in the market," Guasti said.

Very soon, the world's oil production will pass the slack capacity and start to decline. At this point, it will be too late to solve the problem. "When this happens, the era of cheap, easy to extract energy is over. When this starts to happen, the real problems begin -- the party's over. This really disturbs me," Guasti said. "We won't be able to do conservation measures or renewables to avert the problem on a worldwide scale. You can only control what you do at your house."

Natural gas production, Guasti said, is already on the decline in the U.S. -- with prices rising accordingly. He warned that we may see shortages this winter if the season is harsh, and shortages will be even worse next year.

Guasti wants to help High Desert residents and businesses avoid the energy crunch by becoming 'energy independent.'

A wind turbine that takes up no more space in your yard than a parking spot can generate enough energy to run your house or business. Guasti's entire electric bill is less then $2 per month -- to have Southern California Edison store his surplus energy. He has stopped using propane and now has all electric appliances, he heats his home with electricity, and even has an electric-powered truck -- and still never runs out of energy.

"I want as many people as possible to do this now so they are somewhat insulated from the energy price shocks," he said.

If you have at least one acre of land (by state regulations), you can have a wind turbine installed on your property and begin saving money by generating your own earth-friendly energy.

For more information, call Joe Guasti Construction at (760) 949-0480.

-- Daily Press file story

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