In these challenging times, we are constantly urged to do the right thing. Drive less, eat the correct foods, and only buy things that you need, and that have responsibly sourced or manufactured - you get the idea. Hopefully most of us try to do at least some of these things, some of the time.. I have to say that I'm finding it increasingly difficult to even determine what 'the right thing' is, never mind doing it. On our path to the right thing, we are frequently met with that brick wall of a phrase - 'it's just not that simple!'.One minute we are told that biofuels are the saviour of the world and we should all just fill up our cars with ethanol/corn/baked beans or whatever and drive on. In a heartbeat all that changes as we seem to have overlooked that teeny weensy detail of world food supplies and the fact that if we put this stuff in our fuel tanks there may well be nothing left to eat when we get to the supermarket.. Hmmm. Nevertheless, I soldier on, in the hope that one day we won't have to actively seek out solutions to these problems as they will just be the norm. We will happily trot off to the (local) shops and magically everything in stock will be just so. I will be able to fill my pockets with Fair Trade, ethically produced goodies that will have a zero carbon footprint and I won't even need to scrutinize the label because there won't be an alternative. All my fuel needs (transport heat and light) will be met via 100% renewable sources, and I won't get a pang of guilt every time I walk out of a room having just forgotten to turn out the light.
The whole energy efficiency issue is of course one that is close to our hearts here at 1E. If we are guilty of being obsessed with one thing as a company it is saving energy! So it occurred to me the other day that ICT equipment in general must be getting more efficient. Take the humble monitor, which has technologically advanced in leaps and bounds since the days of those boxy, heavyweight CRT screens which all seemed to be 14inches unless you were the department manager in which case you managed to get hold of a mighty 15 or even 17inch giant. With the advent of LCD screens, it was possible to reduce the overall PC energy consumption considerably. The old CRT monitors would happily much away on 150watts while the super skinny size zero supermodel that is the LCD would nibble daintily, consuming a meagre 65watts. So all is well and we're saving energy like we're supposed to right? Nope. Sorry. All of the above is actually way too simple.Here we go again, 'it's just not that simple!'. The problem is, quite simply that the more energy efficient we make things, the more of them we make and the bigger and/or more powerful we make them, and the more complacent we become about using them responsibly.
Take cars for example. If we trade in a large car for a small one, surely we use less gasoline ... or do we? If cars are smaller and driving is cheaper, families may own two cars instead of one, and they will drive more miles than ever. And if you take away my old energy guzzling CRT monitor and replace it with a skinny latte LCD model, I may just leave it on all day AND night just because I know it's cheaper to run, and because it's human nature. In researching all this I came across some fascinating texts, including one which was written in the 19th Century. The Coal Question by William Stanley Jevons tackles the issue of 'Peak Coal' in England. Even way back then it seems we were tackling the finite nature of our natural resources.
So to beat the energy paradox, and defeat our lazy human nature requires some thought. We really need to understand the difference between Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation. That LCD monitor? Turn it off. But just because that made you feel good, don't turn something else on! Use less. True energy conservation will occur only when we all use less energy today than we used yesterday.
Read the complete post at http://www.1e.com/bizblog/post/2010/01/18/Beating-the-Energy-Efficiency-Paradox.aspx