Energy conservation in the 21st Century

The greatest challenge we face this century is energy conservation to deal with our ever increasing need for electricity. We are all concerned about climate change, pollution and the future of our children yet the world seems to be marching onwards with little if any real reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. While renewable energy sources do seem to be making inroads into the energy sector, it is not keeping pace with our increasing need for electricity.

This is a difficult situation. It is true that some countries such as Germany have made massive investments in wind and solar power, yet at the same time these new energy sources have not resulted in the decommissioning of a single coal fired power plant. Why is this?

National energy use is quoted in percentage increase on an annual basis. In Australia for example, energy use increases by just over 3% per year. While this does not seem like a lot, it is important to realize that this is a cumulative increase. This year's energy use will be 3% higher than last year's. The following year will increase by a further 5% on top of the previous 5% added to the former total, like compound interest.

Clearly this results in a non-linear growth in energy use. Extrapolated out over a hundred years or so, the result is a massive increase. Therefore, any overall national increase in annual electricity consumption is a cause for serious concern. The rates for increase vary. According to the Uranium Information Centre, world energy consumption increased by 30% between 1990 and 2000 and this trend is continuing today.

In order to meet this demand, all energy producing industries have flourished. Use of all the current technologies such as coal, oil, nuclear and renewables have increased. The more established technologies such as coal have increased more than the others because of the simplicity of commissioning new power stations with this already proven technology. Therefore despite worldwide concerns about fossil fuel use and climate change, use of non renewable energy sources is still on the rise.

This paints a less than favorable picture for renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power. While these are proven technologies and can be constructed and grid connected with relative ease, the high initial cost makes them less favorable to those whose interest is in profits and minimizing power bills.

The main issue then is not whether we need thousands of new nuclear power plants to meet our growing needs, but the actual energy need itself. Consumer forces are critical in the energy industry as well. If we are able to reduce our energy needs then the possibility of meeting our needs with renewables becomes a possibility. If we continue to use ever more energy, we will not be able to meet this demand with solar and wind power no matter how many panels and turbines we create.

This means that it is up to us as individual consumers to reduce our overall energy consumption and to talk about the issue. This may not be a pleasant prospect, but until national reduction of energy use becomes a focal point for politics we will have no real prospect of preventing climate change. If energy use reduction becomes a mainstream goal, this will force both governments and industries to follow suit.

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