Selling energy conservation
Hinrichsen, D.
People and the Planet 4(1): 18
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0968-1655 PMID: 12295818 Document Number: 310320
This article concerns the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) crisis and its impact on energy efficiency measures in the US. In 1985, when the OPEC collapsed, the US government had avoided the need to construct 350 gigawatts of new electric capacity. The most successful efficiency improvements, especially in household appliances and equipment, lighting and tightened energy efficiency standards in new buildings, resulted from the OPEC event. The real innovation of that time was the change in profit rules for utilities. This revolution and the way some US utilities view energy have not caught on elsewhere. Despite the initiative toward improving energy efficiency in homes, offices and industries, the change has been slow. Partly to blame are the big development banks, which pointed out that short-term conservation and efficiency measures could save at least 15% of the total energy demand without the need for major investment. The benefits of energy conservation was shown during the oil shock when per capita energy consumption fell by 5% in the member states of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, while the per capita gross domestic product grew by a third. There has been a decrease in energy expenditure worldwide, and the scope for further energy savings is enormous, but governments need to recognize and seize the opportunity.