Energy conservation

Summary: While the distribution and utilization patterns of energy resource consumption has been justified, it is unsustainable for future generations. Energy consumption will double in industrialized countries and triple in developing countries over the next 30 years.

Widespread availability of energy at an affordable cost is one of the most important factors in economic progress and improving the quality of life, but can result in wasteful energy use that in turn leads to environmental degradation. Energy conservation provides a range of resources that can simultaneously minimize energy consumption while keeping it widely available and affordable. More recently, energy conservation has been harnessed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and individuals such as Amory Lovins have widely (and successfully) promoted conservation as an alternative to the continued construction of new power plants.

Although thought of as a recent development, energy conservation has a long history. In ancient Greece and Rome, scarce and expensive fuel resources led architects and engineers to design both efficient buildings and heating systems. These advancements were largely lost after the fall of the Roman Empire, but were rediscovered during the European Renaissance, when improved chimneys and stoves were reintroduced. As early as 1618, German writer Franz Kessler wrote Holzsparkunst (Saving Wood), which promoted efficient heating systems in order to save Germany from deforestation. While the Germans learned this lesson, the French (and others) did not, and the introduction of efficient stoves into Paris in the eighteenth century simply made heat available to a large population, which led to rapid deforestation of the French countryside. Benjamin Franklin saw this same pattern in America and invented a more efficient stove to avoid a similar deforestation in America (which happened anyway).

The dilemma of conservation is that by reducing the energy required to do a specific task, the cost will also be reduced and people will use more of it. One of the best examples of this is the introduction of vehicle fuel economy standards in the United States, which made cars more efficient, but as a result, Americans increased the numbers of miles they drove by 151 percent over the next 25 years, five times more than the growth in population.

One of the more effective and widespread conservations employed in recent years are the promulgation of efficiency standards for a wide range of appliances as well as buildings. Refrigerators, air conditioners, furnaces, and light bulbs have become much more efficient, and building codes in many areas now mandate that new and renovated buildings must be very efficient.

Energy conservation has been aided by the introduction of smart meter and energy control systems, which allow even residential consumers to monitor and control their energy consumption. As is the case with most energy conservation measures, they are more likely to be adopted by consumers with the financial resources to do so, although governments and Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have become increasingly active in reducing energy use in low-income areas of developed nations and throughout developing countries. The introduction of more efficient appliances, low-power computers, and other technology has also made it possible to introduce them into areas depending on limited renewable resources such as solar photovoltaics.

Increasing and rampant energy consumption is polluting the global atmospheric environment through the emission of excessive carbon compounds, while it is gradually limiting access to energy for a substantial amount of the world’s population. Energy conservation is thus needed to reduce consumption of limited energy resources and to encourage the use of energy-efficient products in our daily life in such a way that would reduce environmental tradeoffs and ensure sustainable use.

Availability of Energy Resources

Energy resources are found in renewable and nonrenewable forms. Nonrenewable energy resources are most commonly consumed and include biomass and fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal. Nonrenewable energy resources are extensively converted into other forms to generate electricity. Although nonrenewable energy resources have multiple uses in daily life and their consumption is expected to increase, their future quantities are limited. Notably, fossil-fuel-based energy consumption has already given rise to environmental protection concerns, calls for energy conservation, and searches for alternative energy resources.

The largest amount of fossil-fuel-based energy is consumed in the developed parts of the world, but only 30 percent of global population lives there. It has been well documented that since the industrial era of the late 1800s, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have increased exponentially due to fossil fuel combustion in developed nations. Of particular concern is the influx of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere, which has risen to 450 ppm from the normal level of 250 ppm in the preindustrial period. Due to excessive CO₂emission in the atmosphere, global warming has already increased and the resulting weather variability has heavily impacted social and economic conditions in many poor countries. With regard to climate change, energy consumption issues have been the focal point driving the quest for alternative energy sources.

Developing Conservation Measures

Energy conservation and the concomitant development of alternative energy sources can contribute to both social and economic development. Energy conservation can most importantly reduce the need for finite fossil-fuel-based energy products and thus reduce GHG emissions into the atmosphere. Reduced energy consumption is likely to result in lower per capita demand for energy as well as lowered industrial production costs. The resulting energy savings will lead in turn to lowered costs associated with the investment, supply, and distribution of energy to meet the increased demands driven by population growth.

Just as humans have driven energy consumption, humans have the capacity to drive energy conservation. Energy is a significant source of power in the accomplishment of our daily work. In general terms, energy is the ability to do work, for instance to move objects, light our homes and cities, and power our factory machines. Energy conservation should thus start from our daily lives and surroundings.

Individuals can reduce their daily energy consumption and adopt low-carbon lifestyles through changing their behavior and product usage. Households have a significant role in energy efficiency because of their diverse demands for energy use and household activities with respect to their diverse social and economic situations. Households use both direct (natural gas, electricity, biomass, and other fossil fuels) and indirect (production, transportation, and disposal of goods and services) energy.

Energy conservation efforts most commonly include the following steps (which are not exhaustive): walking, riding a bicycle, or riding mass transit instead of driving automobiles, which emit 60 percent of the air pollution in cities; using fluorescent lightbulbs, which can reduce energy consumption 10 times compared to incandescent light bulbs; air-drying clothes instead of using a clothes dryer; and recycling newspapers, aluminum cans, and plastic bottles to reduce future energy costs for manufacturing the same products.

Methods of Conservation

Energy conservation also involves the type of appliances we use in our households and offices. Different appliances have varied energy consumption rates and consumers should act proactively to reduce their energy consumption. Examples include raising or lowering the water or air heater or air-conditioning thermostat, switching off the lights when leaving a room, not using the standby mode of electronic appliances like computers, sealing air leaks around windows and doors to reduce excessive heating and cooling, planting trees to block sunlight near windows to reduce associated cooling costs, cleaning or changing air filters in air heating and cooling systems to improve efficiency, and the use of energy-efficient appliances.

Many factors influence energy conservation at the individual and household levels as well as within energy-intensive business units. One key issue is a lack of awareness regarding the selection and use of energy-efficient products and services. Awareness campaigns, such as the distribution of information booklets and broadcast programs and the marketing of energy-efficient products may increase people’s conscious decisions to adopt products that facilitate energy conservation. People’s awareness of their energy use and their self-motivation in terms of environmental concerns can determine their consumption patterns. People select energy products with respect to their economy, comfort, and context. Increased energy saving awareness can motivate people toward reduced consumption and the preference of alternative energy sources. In this regard, energy policies must encourage the adoption of efficient products.

The core idea of energy conservation is to use energy more efficiently. Energy efficiency is determined by lifestyle, but also by access to more efficient products. Energy-efficient products include those that consume less energy, are not purely produced from fossil fuels, are recyclable, and are driven by alternative energy sources. For example, electricity is usually generated from finite, nonrenewable fossil fuels, but there is a huge potential for the production of electricity from renewable solar, wind, and hydro sources.

Alternative energy sources such as solar energy are efficient means for energy conservation and the reduction of energy consumption and are directly accessible resources in the world around us. While fossil-fuel-based electricity generation is not equally available in developing and least-developed countries, there is great potential for the adoption of solar-based home electricity systems. To some extent, promotion of solar panel–based electrification systems would improve the social and economic conditions of rural populations in those countries that seldom have access to fossil-fuel-based energy resources while reducing over-reliance on biomass fuel or the outside importation and exploration of fossil fuel resources.

Energy conservation is a global issue but conservation roles and responsibilities vary among nations. Developed nations need to play a vital role in conserving energy, as these nations consume the highest percentage of energy resources due to greater access and to technological and financial investment in energy exploration. Residents in developed nations use a plethora of appliances in their daily life, which are powered by electricity generated from a variety of mostly nonrenewable energy resources. There is also an upsurge in demand for oil for fuel combustion to support the growing urban traffic of those nations. Citizens of highly energy-dependant countries need to adopt more energy-efficient products to reduce their consumption levels. At the same time, energy conservation efforts must be accompanied by the development of alternative renewable energy technology, such as solar power, wind power, and hydropower. Some developed nations have already adopted alternative energy sources—such as nuclear energy in the United States and Sweden, and wind power in Denmark and the Netherlands—to generate electricity and boost industrial economic growth.

Demand for energy is projected to at least remain constant to maintain growth in developed countries, and demand will rise in developing and least-developed countries to drive economic growth. The role and demand of energy-deficit countries regarding energy conservation must not be downplayed. Raising economic growth in these areas will require sufficient access to energy. Renewable alternative energy sources have already showed promise. The access of rural people to energy resources is vital to accelerate the national development of poor countries, which may be viable if alternative energy can be provided in remote areas. Many initiatives are already underway to promote alternative energy sources in Asian and African countries. For example, a few private agencies are providing solar panels to rural residents with no access to national electric grids in Bangladesh, while a group of people formed a cooperative to use solar panels for their businesses in Namibia.

The adoption of alternative energy sources and new technologies, however, are not yet cost-effective or easily accessible for most remote impoverished populations, and little government funding is in place to support such efforts. Human life will not be sustainable, however, without energy conservation efforts focused on environmental protection and global socioeconomic realities.

Bibliography

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Lovins, Amory. “Energy Strategy: The Road Not Taken?” Foreign Affairs (October 1976).

Maher, Neil M. Nature’s New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

Sheldrick, Bill, and Sally Macgill. “Local Energy Conservation Initiatives in the UK: Their Nature and Achievements.” Energy Policy (1988).

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