Why energy efficiency matters?
02/12/2011
Energy efficiency is "using less energy to provide the same service". Adopting an Energy management System is an effective way, an organisation can recognise avoidable energy consumption and cut back on their energy costs.
According to the Environmental Defence Fund (EDF), a 1.8-per cent reduction in energy use in US could save households a little over $3 billion every year on their electric bills. That would reduce the nation’s demand for by more than 26,000 gigawatt-hours and eliminate as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as is produced by three 500-megawatt coal-fired power plants.
Energy efficiency is "using less energy to provide the same service". Plants, at the base of life’s pyramid are the most energy efficient organisms on earth. They use photosynthesis to absorb the sun’s natural energy (renewable), then either use it or store it in the most efficient manner; this also means that they are the group with the least amount of energy lost in heat. However, human beings have yet to fully appreciate the importance of using and storing electricity economically.
For instance, when we turn on a light bulb, along the supply chain (from primary source of energy like coal, natural gas, or wind to the light switch), there are massive energy losses everywhere. A substantial amount of unused heat is lost at each stage of conversion or transmission. Usually, in most electrical applications, less than 10 percent of the original primary energy is actually for useful work.
Finding and using alternate energy sources is not the ultimate solution for our energy vows. The solution to our ‘energy crisis’ or ‘energy gap’ lies in how we can turn the losses between source energy and consumed work into our greatest opportunity. According to Peter Tertzakian’s Asymmetry Principle of Energy Consumption: “A unit of energy saved at the consumer level cascades into multiple units of energy saved at the source.”
It is estimated that the world primary energy demand will increases by 36% by 2035 - 1.2% per year on average. As the new energy consumer in developing nations take industrialization to new levels, the world will have to look for smarter strategies to cut electricity consumption.
Energy use must be managed and what can organisations in developing countries do to save energy?
Adopting an Energy management System is an effective way, an organisation can recognise avoidable energy consumption and cut back on their energy costs. Governments in developing countries are increasingly offering subsidies to companies who implement effective energy management systems for continuous energy efficiency and also reduce their GHG emissions.
The benefits of embracing an Energy Management System are multiple:
Reduce costs – Pre-requisite as energy costs increases.
Reduce carbon emissions - environmental damage, cost-related implications of carbon taxes and the like, your organization may be keen to reduce its carbon footprint to promote a green, sustainable image.
Reduce risk – the more energy you consume, the greater the risk that energy price increases or supply shortages could seriously affect your profitability, or even make it impossible for your business/organization to continue.
The recently published international standard ISO 50001 is focused purely on energy management. ISO 50001 provides organizations with a framework enabling them develop a management system that ensures that energy use is considered in every element of their operations. Based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act approach to continual improvement, this standard supports energy performance improvement over time based on the best data available to the organization.
Find out more about LRQA’s assessment, certification and training services to support your organization’s implementation of ISO 50001.