Energy-efficient refrigerators can save more energy than all the wind, solar thermal and solar photovoltaics in the United States can produce. Thus spoke Steven Chu, the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) Secretary during his Copenhagen presentation on Monday. Chu used the event to announce Climate REDI (Renewables and Efficiency Employment Initiative), a $350 million international fund to which the U.S. will contribute $85 million. The program aims at giving the developing world access to energy efficient devices and renewable energy.
The case of the American cooler provides us with an example of how decreasing energy consumption by domestic appliances can help de-carbonize our lifestyles. Scientific American explains that despite the fact that coolers have grown in size since the 1970s (from 18 to 22 cubit feet), their energy consumption has dropped by 75 per cent. If the same happened world over, we could be saving 1.1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide over five years, which is more than wind and solar (both thermal and PV) save.
This is a step in the right direction. Alongside generating renewable energy, we really must prioritize reducing energy consumption, until we get to a point when only the very minimum will be necessary to run our domestic products and everything else, hopefully. Making products less energy demanding is a much safer bet than asking people to be frugal and conscientious. It’s a win-win situation: less energy, less money spent, less carbon in the atmosphere.
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