Increasing Efficiency in Energy Use

Description:

Driven by economical and environmental reasons the use of energy is becoming increasingly more efficient. For example the amount of diesel required per km driven is reducing through improved engine technology and the power consumption of electrical appliances is continuously improved. Current energy efficient refrigerators, for example, use 40 percent less energy than conventional models did in 2001 [1].

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficient_energy_use

Enablers:

- Affordable Turbo Charged Engines (e.g. VW's TSFI)
- LCD television
- Hybrid cars (storing energy for restart during braking)
- Improving Housing Isolation
- Intelligent Thermostats
- Energy Efficiency Tax labels (A,B,C) on cars, appliances and houses
- Gas Power
- Improving Aerodynamics modelling (e.g.planes, cars)
- Electronic car driving assists
- LED lighting

Inhibitors:

- Invested capital in centralized commercial power grids
- Incentive to contribute electricity
- Remote areas, with high plug-in/connection cost
- Maintenance and cost sharing of the "public" power grids

Paradigms:

An open electricity network will be more stabile than a centralized one. Individuals will be able to freely plugin their chargeable transportation means, audio or communication devices and at the same time contribute energy to the same system. Contributing energy back into the system will be realized through a mix of technologies and a range of schales; e.g. solar panels on homes, wind mill parks, government owned nuclear power plants and medium sized bio mass furnaces. The risk of major disruptions is diminished by the large number of contributors. Given the open, plug-in character the incentive for contribution has to be managed by e.g. requiring a neutral consumption/contribution or e.g. tax benefits for positive contributions.

Timing:

2002 - deregulation of the electricity markets, problems with licensing new high-voltage transmission lines, increasing demand for a highly reliable power supply and, in particular, the problems associated with climate change (http://www.fz-juelich.de/inb/inb-mut//publikationen/preprints/rensustenrev.pdf)
2009 - Home owners are installing solar panels on their roofs, aided by government tax benefits.

Web Resources:

Efficient energy use
[1]