Next week there will be a new president in the United States and his credentials are firmly pegged on finding the US more renewable sources of energy. He appointed Stephen Chu, an admired physicist and Nobel Prize winner, as his Energy Secretary. Some of Chu's first public comments have been about energy efficiency.
Energy efficiency is nothing new but it is overlooked. Modern society wastes too much energy and very little, except for the odd advertisement and manufacturer statement, is being done to get people to cut energy use.
Manufacturers, perhaps with the exception of the computing industry but that is improving, have done alot to reduce the amount of energy used, whether it is in a kettle or a motor car. However, there are more appliances now into homes than there has ever been. Little is said about this.
Energy efficiency will help everyone and it will cost nothing. Better metering should be introduced to promote energy reduction and tariffs for energy usage above defined norms, should be promoted. High energy users, especially domestic users (industry and business are a little more complex), should pay more. So it might be that there is a basic tariff for say the first 1,000 units of electricity used, and progressively higher rates after that amount within a given period. This will better price energy as a resource and also force users to rethink there usage. Manufacturers will then continue to find ways of getting energy consumption down.
Energy efficiency, like seat belts, should be seen as compulsory. It should not be sen as a remarkable event.
There are an increasing of consultancies and products that can help save energy. LED light bulbs are an example aleady adopted by many. Insulation in housing is another, which reduces the need for energy, but not necessarily the use of energy. Most consultants will tell you that 30% of energy used is wasted. That 30% in most countries woulsd amount to a 20% reduction in carbon emissions on the use of that energy. Just that statistic suggests that efficency is just common sense.
