Energy conservation is the practice of decreasing the quantity of energy used. It may be achieved through efficient energy use, in which case energy use is decreased while achieving a similar outcome, or by reduced consumption of energy services. Energy conservation may result in increase of financial capital, environmental value, national security, personal security, and human comfort. Individuals and organizations that are direct consumers of energy may want to conserve energy in order to reduce energy costs and promote economic security. Industrial and commercial users may want to increase efficiency and thus maximize profit.
Energy conservation is an important element of energy policy. Energy conservation reduces the energy consumption and energy demand per capita, and thus offsets the growth in energy supply needed to keep up with population growth. This reduces the rise in energy costs, and can reduce the need for new power plants, and energy imports. The reduced energy demand can provide more flexibility in choosing the most preferred methods of energy production.
By reducing emissions, energy conservation is an important part of lessening climate change. Energy conservation facilitates the replacement of non-renewable resources with renewable energy. Energy conservation is often the most economical solution to energy shortages, and is a more environmentally benign alternative to increased energy production.
Issues with energy conservation
Critics and advocates of some forms of energy conservation make the following arguments:
- It may be difficult for home owners or small business to justify investment in some energy saving measures. Condensing boilers are much more efficient than older types. Energy savings are achieved by venting less heat externally and heating water for showers etc, as it is used. Refrigeration is also a major factor of energy consumption, electronic Energy saving modules (ESM) can be added to existing HVAC and refrigeration systems at little cost to conserve electricity.
- Some retailers argue that bright lighting stimulates purchasing. Health studies have demonstrated that headache, stress (medicine), blood pressure, fatigue and worker error all generally increase with the common over-illumination present in many workplace and retail settings (Davis, 2001), (Bain, 1997). It has been shown that natural daylighting increases productivity levels of workers, while reducing energy consumption. Consumers are also motivated by a number of factors, and corporate stewardship may provide an incentive for shoppers to visit stores who conserve energy. Lower overhead costs may allow retailers to lower prices, stimulating consumption.
- The usage of telecommuting by major corporations is a significant opportunity to conserve energy, as many Americans now work in service jobs that enable them to work from home instead of commuting to work each day.
- Electric motors consume more than 60% of all electrical energy generated and are responsible for the loss of 10 to 20% of all electricity converted into mechanical energy. No doubt, electricity consumption and associated loss by electric motors will continually grow; particularly, as the transportion sector moves to vehicles with electric drivetrains. Migrating or retrofitting any applied base of electric motors (and electric generators) with energy efficient electric motor and generator technology and systems, such as the brushless wound rotor doubly fed electric motor or generator, can dramatically reduce energy consumption and resulting emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) to the atmosphere. As a bonus, the technology can have a payback period of less than a year depending on use factors.
Source: Wikipedia