SOLUTIONS
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
London at night, from International Space Station, Courtesy NASA
A major factor driving global warming is our easily-correctable waste of energy. Due to technological advances, it now costs one-third as much to save energy through efficiency programmes as it does to generate the same amount by building yet another power plant. A scientific report to the U.S. Congress [1] showed that energy end-use efficiency could reduce carbon gas emissions by 57% and renewable energy could easily make up the rest of a 70% emissions cut. 80% of society’s primary energy currently comes from fossil fuels. Two-thirds of it is lost during conversion to forms used in human activities. So the fastest, cheapest, most effective way to reduce fossil carbon emissions is to avoid as many losses as possible. Energy end-use efficiency could reduce the majority of our carbon emissions without affecting GDP [2].
One third of emissions come from buildings. If they were newly constructed, or if they were re-fitted to low-energy demand standards, their annual energy demand could be reduced six-fold.
Very large energy savings are also available from energy-efficient appliances. For example, lighting uses 25% of all electrical power generated in modern societies. Conventional incandescent bulbs waste 90% of the electricity they consume—they produce more heat than light. Compact fluorescent bulbs have superseded them in efficiency and are becoming mandatory in many countries. White light emitting diodes [LEDs] look set to become the ultra-efficient light source of the future. For example, an LED streetlight consumes 70% less energy than standard lights and can deliver a "step change" in the efficiency of urban infrastructure. The lights last ten times longer than current ones and deliver large savings in electrcity costs and carbon emissions. LED lights are now being trialled in Toronto, London, Hong Kong, New York and Mumbai under the LightSavers Initative unveiled at the Copenhagen Conference, 2009.
1. American Solar Energy Society [2007] Tackling Climate Change in the US.
2. Scientific American, special issue [2007] Energy’s Future Beyond Carbon