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Most of us know we should rein in our energy use. But to be successful, it’d help if we knew the best way to do it. So scientists asked more than 500 people, “What’s the most effective thing you can do to conserve energy?” The results were illuminating.
More than half the participants focused on conservation by curtailment: switching off the lights, changing thermostat settings and driving less. Only 12 percent went for efficiency: using compact fluorescent bulbs, insulating the house or driving a hybrid car. But scientists say that it’s actually these moves that yield the bigger energy savings. The results appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Shahzeen Attari et al., http://bit.ly/bEtA6W]
The study authors think that a big factor is that curtailment is easier to imagine doing—while efforts to improve efficiency would involve, for example, doing research about new appliances or cars, and spending money up front to buy them.
But if people knew more about the actual energy requirements of their activities versus the savings available through efficiency, they might be spurred to act. To quote physicist and energy expert Arthur Rosenfeld: “Energy efficiency is like a Saudi Arabia under our cities.”
—Karen Hopkin
[The above text is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
For more, see Survey Probes Americans' Incorrect Opinions on Energy Efficiency
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8 Comments
Add Commentproblem is when we stop using so much energy the rates go up as they cry" were losing money "-same as gasoline
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo it is more cost effective to get a loan for a new car (that must have taken a fair share of energy to build), and pay interest and full insurance, than to drive less in a vehicle I own but isn't as efficient...? really? really!!?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe can rely on the manufacturers/retailers of new, more efficient vehicles & appliances, etc., to properly represent the energy cost of manufacture in all estimates of energy savings, right?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wonder how long I can drive my 1993 Ford before it uses more energy than manufacturing a new car and driving it would consume?
The problem with efficiency is that it can be misleading. For instance a hybrid car may save energy driving in the city but the savings may not be so great on a highway. Moreover, even though it is more efficient driving in a city the lifetime energy cost may not be so great as it may take significantly more energy to produce. Further, is efficiency the only measure. What are the environmental costs of the batteries to produce and should we consider energy efficiency or economic efficiency. A hybrid vehicle will likely cost more. There are many things to consider when buying something and all the metrics presented before us might not be so clear.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAre we missing the real message of this podcast, which puts the emphasis on how we communicate some of these things, rather than what is more effecient option?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.sustainableideas.info/
Maybe not, but I can't imagine how low we would have to keep our thermostat to knock 40% off our our natural gas use like we did insulating and air-sealing with guidance from a Home Performance With Energy-Star audit.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe fact that people turn off lights to save energy shows that they want to do something to help. We need to encourage that desire but also facilitate improvement by providing useful information to guide consumers. Examples could include periodic newspaper columns or magazine articles on relative effeciencies of different devices.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI do turn off lights when not needed but I do wonder how efficient lightbulbs can be when you have to dispose of them as a hazardous material. Shouldn't bulbs be more organic for lack of the better word?
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