Day of energy conservation has dawned

Campaigners in the past had to work hard to convince us of the need to save power, but with prices skyrocketing people realise they can no longer take their excesses for granted

Published on May 12, 2008

The ongoing energy crisis and rising food prices may be a blessing in disguise after all.

Government agencies used to find it difficult to get across the message of the need to lower energy consumption. But the spike in the prices of fuel, food and the general cost of living in the past few years appears to have made the job of energy conservation campaigners a lot easier. More and more, people are realising they can no longer take for granted affordable fuel, cheap food and carefree lifestyles.

With people feeling the pinch of this difficult time, all the energy-conservation messages that used to fall on deaf ears now appear to make a lot of sense. People are seriously looking for ways to cut back on energy consumption to be able to maintain their standard of living or make ends meet because their incomes have either stagnated or have not kept pace with the rate of inflation.

In the past, energy-conservation campaigners had to resort to making their causes appear fashionable. Now people have become much more receptive to ideas about how to contribute toward significant energy savings, such as switching to energy-saving light fixtures and appliances, changing wasteful habits and making home improvements to reduce their energy needs.

New technologies

In the typical middle-income home, air conditioning accounts for about 50-60 per cent of total energy consumption, while lighting consumes about 15 per cent and electrical appliances the rest. In order to cut overall energy consumption, air conditioning and lighting must be the main targets. Homeowners can reduce their reliance on air conditioners by investing in insulation materials, or make structural adjustments to allow cool air to flow through their home.

However, some of the new greener, or more energy efficient, technologies in building materials, lighting fixtures and air-conditioning systems are still either too expensive or unavailable.

It is the job of the energy-conservation campaigners and government agencies to find ways to promote wider adoption of such green products through public education and through tax incentives for manufacturers, among other things.

Once such products gain wider acceptance among consumers, economies of scale will bring the prices down, people will begin to make more rational choices, and the market forces will do the rest.