Going Green?

Maybe CF should just hire Al Gore....I'm sure he has a solution! ;)

Hopefully, he'll be busy next summer. :)

(But only if a certain someone doesn't make the cut)

halltd said:

On average, the US household currently uses between 8,900 and 10,656 kwHs per year. So, that's about 815 kwHs per month. (Ben, you could use an energy savings plan at your home!)

Then I'm way above average. My average electricity consumption last year was about 1,200kwH each month, with it peaking at about 2,200kwH in the month of January and at its lowest at roughly 800kwH in September. I guess this makes my family and I sound absolutely horrible for wasting electricity all year round until you realize one thing: my house is completely electric.

As far as going green it would be nice to see everyone doing their part, even though I despise those whales we are trying to save. Since I'm such a cheap arse it makes sense for me to buy those flourescent light bulbs because it uses 1/4 of the power of a regular incandescant bulb and takes forever for those to burn out. It's also cheaper for me to drive my little Civic, but when I'm really in the mood to kill whales I'll hook up our camper to the van and drive down the driveway to get our mail and then drive back. Because those whales are smug little creatures that I'm done dealing with.

~Rob Willi

P.S. ;)

I don't use anywhere near 400. Not even close.

Hershey's thing is a PR project with little to no impact on their bottom line or their energy consumption. It's still too expensive to have measurable impact. I've looked into it even on a residential scale, and seeing as how I couldn't put up a turbine in my back yard anyway (zoning, housing association and what not), it wouldn't be a good use of cash.

Being efficient with energy is an interesting game. Sometimes there are wins you have to look for. For example, a friend at work just built a house that uses geothermal, at a cost of some extra dollars per month in his mortgage. However, roughly the same amount comes off of his energy bills, so while he doesn't save or spend extra money, the impact on system is reduced.

I was just reading about geothermal too. It sounds very impressive. A typical, retrofitted house can see savings of 40 - 80% off heating and cooling bills. These systems are built to last essentially forever, and they're basically maintenance-free.

The other nice thing is that once you pay off the system, all that energy savings is free.

Much like Cedar Fair, my parents are also slow in adopting new technology. :) However, after some initial hesitation on my mother's part, all the new bulbs they buy are fluorescent. The new ones give off the same light as the old bulbs but use less energy and last longer.

I think the long lasting part would be the best for the park. It wouldn't work for the big spots (or maybe it would...) but just think, one trip around the Giant Wheel to put in LEDs would get rid of those ugly burnt out patches for(almost)ever. Same with all the other lights around the park.

Pft, energy saving? It aint cheap to power computers, Although I don't typically use a lot of anything (Lights are generally off) to excess. It just has to do with the fact that I have 2 computers runnning fulltime and 3 part time along with an electric stove, and electric water heater.

I think generating their own power would be a bit unrealistic for money reasons as Jeff said. I would like to see more trees along Frontier Trail however. I remember walking through Frontier Trail back in the mid 80s and it felt like you were in a forest. They keep cutting them down for various reasons. Building Millenium Force took down the most trees in that section of the park. They should have replanted new trees in the areas that werent vital to the operation of the ride. :(

Gomez said:
Don't company vehicles run on different kind of fuel already? I remember an article a few years ago mentioning that.

Ha, last year when I worked there I had to fill my merch truck with regular gasoline. The pump is right next to the corckscrew by the mbuilding. The merch. truck is older then dirt and the doors don't even work on it. I doubt that they would ever change the engine to help the enviroment for a truck on its death bed.

I think they should power the trains and everything with Gasoline and make the air dirty. :)

I think its cool how you can see the nuclear reactors cooling towers on Millennium Force and other rides.

You have an idea though with them solar panels though. I think it isn't a bad idea. I imagine TTD takes a lot of energy :).

I think what CP should do is to try and find the coaster in the park that uses the least amount of energy and build the worlds first "100% green powered coaster". I am not sure what they could run with solar panels though. Maybe frog hopper. *** Edited 11/30/2007 11:40:06 PM UTC by factory81***

Any of the green stuff you do has to be cost effective in a business. Cedar Fair already recycles all their office paper, but out on the midway it just takes too much effort to manage it. But that doesn't mean they don't take ALL the garbage to a facility that does front-end separation; I think Jeff can tell us about that.

Lighting is an interesting area because most of the outdoor lighting OTHER THAN the cabochon lights on the rides...that is to say, most of the floodlighting...is already done with various forms of arc lamps (which is what fluorescent lights really are inside). The most logical improvement is to replace those exposed-bulb lamps with LEDs, which is happening across the industry right now, but the process is slow because the drop-in LED replacement lamps are significantly more expensive than the incandescents...so much more expensive that they don't yet pay for themselves.

But that doesn't mean it won't ever happen. GhostRider out at Knott's uses LED rope lighting, just as an example.

Oh, and some of the spectacular rides have regenerative braking, which is always kind of cool. I wonder if First Energy allows for net metering, though...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

RideMan said:
But that doesn't mean they don't take ALL the garbage to a facility that does front-end separation; I think Jeff can tell us about that.

Separation of recyclable materials in trash cans (ie: pop bottles) was something discussed this summer, and the reply was that it would simply be too "labor intensive." Unless it's initially separated, for example, at sit down restaurants, it all goes to the same place.

I wouldn't expect the park to do it. But many of the private waste management companies (those that don't merely operate landfills) do front-end separation at the transfer station.

Of course, the challenge in that case is that nothing gets recycled unless there's a profit to be made from doing it...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

It is interesting to hear about regenerative braking. Everytime I walk past TTD I think about the energy that is wasted slowing down the ride. If it could be redirected you could essentially regain some of the energy required for the next launch. I am sure that it would be a tchnological nightmare to figure out, but just think of the energy savings.

As for landscaping I am doing research on some of the native vegetation in the area, and Cedar Point is well mentioned in the literature thanks to E.L. Moseley and Otto Jennings. Originally Cedar Point had may different vegetation types on it including sand dunes, wet prairies, swamps, flood plain like forests, etc. It would be nice to see some native vegetation planted in and around some of the rides. Not only does it send an environmental message, but it is also a cheper form of landscaping in the long run, because established prairies do not need regular maintenence, fertilizers or herbicides.

LED's would be a very nice thing to have, if they were economical.

Regenerative breaking, now that's something that could be very cool. I wonder what they would have to do in order to harness some of that currently-wasted energy...

Does anyone know if CP gets a break from First Energy on the electric bill? Some people I know speculate that they pay next to nothing, don't know how accurate that is though. I think that is most important as far as the chances of CP putting in any type of green power generation equipment. Does the cost of the equipment have a reasonable return on investment? I know, it's the same old thing, but that seems to be a major concern to the company.

I doubt they pay "next to nothing" for their power. But, I'm sure they get a bulk industrial rate. FirstEnergy has tiers of service based on how much energy you use. Factories (and I'm assuming amusement parks) would get a highly discounted rate because of the amount of power they use. But, it's hardly free.

Perhaps Dick Kinzel could reduce his footprint by reading his e-mails on his computer instead of having it printed for him! :)

It has been a long time since I've watched the laser lights show, but they used to advertise First Energy before the show. They may be getting reduced rates in exchange for advertising.

Unfortunately the ROI, if you will, for alternative energies are not there yet. Take active solar for an example at current electricity costs it would take over 20 years to recoup your costs. Although if energy tates rise the time to recoup costs would be substantially shorter. I believe the wind turbines in Bowling Green are expected to pay for themselves in about 4-5 years. Most hybrid cars would need to be driven about 10 years in order to make back the additional sticker price.

Corporations that "go green" ussually do not do so for the money savings, thaey mainly do so because it is a good thing to do and it is good PR, which can lead to an increase on the bottom line.