searchspell:conservationcorrected for energy conservation
Energy conservation is the practice of reducing the use of energy in order to increase national security, personal security, save money, be more comfortable and/or help clean the environment. This is done in two ways:
Individuals and organizations that are direct consumers of energy may want to conserve energy in order to reducing heating or electrical bills. Manufacturers and other industries may want to increase efficiency in order to maximize profit or cost-effectiveness. On a larger scale, energy conservation is an element of energy policy. The need to increase the available supply of energy (for example, through the creation of new power plants, or by the importation of more energy) is lessened if societal demand for energy can be reduced, or if growth in demand can be slowed. This makes energy conservation an important part of the debates over climate change and the replacement of non-renewable resources with renewable energy. Encouraging energy conservation among consumers is often advocated as a cheaper or more environmentally sensitive alternative to increased energy production.
Energy conservation trends in the United StatesThe U.S. Department of Energy categorizes national energy use in four broad sectors: transportation, residential, commercial, and industrial. Energy usage in the transportation and residential sectors (about half of U.S. energy consumption) is largely controlled by individual consumers. Commercial and industrial energy expenditures are determined by businesses, government entities and other facility managers. National energy policy has a significant effect on energy usage across all four sectors. Transportation sectorWikibooks has more about this subject: How to reduce transportation fuel costsThe transportation sector includes all vehicles used for personal or freight transportation. Of the energy used in this sector, approximately 70% is consumed by gasoline-powered vehicles, primarily personally owned. Diesel-powered transport (trains, merchant ships, heavy trucks, etc.) consumes about 20%, and air traffic consumes the remaining ten percent. The oil supply crises of the 1970s spurred the creation, in 1975, of the federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program, which required car manufacturers to meet progressively higher fleet fuel economy targets. The next decade saw dramatic improvements in fuel economy, mostly the result of reductions in vehicle size and weight. These gains eroded somewhat after 1990 due to the growing popularity of sport utility vehicles and minivans, which fall under the more lenient "light truck" CAFE standard. In addition to the CAFE program, the U.S. government has tried to encourage better vehicle efficiency through tax policy. Since 2002, taxpayers have been eligible for income tax credits for gas/electric hybrid vehicles. A "gas-guzzler" tax has been assessed on manufacturers since 1978 for cars with exceptionally poor fuel economy. While this tax remains in effect, it currently generates very little revenue as overall fuel economy has improved. Another focus in gasoline conservation is reducing the number of miles driven. An estimated 40% of American automobile use is associated with daily commuting. Many urban areas offer subsidized public transportation to reduce commuting traffic, and encourage carpooling by providing designated high-occupancy vehicle lanes and lower tolls for cars with multiple riders. In recent years telecommuting has also become a viable alternative to commuting for some jobs, but as of 2003 only 3.5% of workers were telecommuters. Residential sectorWikibooks has more about this subject: How to reduce home energy usageThe residential sector refers to all private residences, including single-family homes, apartments, manufactured homes and dormitories. Energy use in this sector varies significantly across the country, due to regional climate differences and different regulation. On average, about half of the energy used in the U.S. homes is expended on space conditioning (i.e. heating and cooling the living space). Like automobiles, the efficiency of furnaces and air conditioners has increased steadily since the energy crises of the 1970s. The 1987 National Appliance Energy Conservation Act authorized the Department of Energy to set minimum efficiency standards for space conditioning equipment and other appliances each year, based on what is "technologically feasible and economically justified". Beyond these minimum standards, the Environmental Protection Agency awards the Energy Star designation to appliances that exceed industry efficiency averages by an EPA-specified percentage. Despite technological improvements, many American lifestyle changes have put higher demands on heating and cooling resources. The average size of homes built in the United States has increased significantly, from 1500 ft² in 1970 to 2300 ft² in 2005. The single-person household has become more common, as has central air conditioning: 23% of households had central air conditioning in 1978, that figure rose to 55% by 2001. As a cheaper alternative to the purchase of a new furnace or air conditioner, most public utilities encourage smaller changes the consumer can make to lessen space conditioning usage. Weatherization is frequently subsidized by utilities or state/federal tax credits, as are programmable thermostats. Consumers have also been urged to adopt a wider indoor temperature range (e.g. 65°F in winter, 80°F in summer). Natural gas stoves are more energy-efficient than electric models.While more energy-efficient potentially carcinogenic combustion by products are released into the building by gas stoves. Similarly hazardous cooking fumes come from all stoves. These significant sources of indoor air pollution tend to concentrate in buildings especially in energy conserving air sealed buildings. http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/full/9/11/1215 Home energy consumption averages:
Energy usage in some homes may vary widely from these averages. For example, certain appliances such as a waterbed, hot tub, or pre-1990 refrigerator use significant amounts of electricity. In most residences no single appliance dominates, and any conservation efforts must be directed to numerous areas in order to achieve substantial energy savings. Best building practises substantially more conservingCurrent best practises in building design and construction result in homes that are profoundly more energy conserving than average new homes. See Passive house, Superinsulation, Self-sufficient homes, Earthship, Straw-bale construction Commercial SectorThe commercial sector consists of retail stores, offices (business and government), restaurants, schools and other workplaces. Energy in this sector has the same basic end uses as the residential sector, in slightly different proportions. Space conditioning is again the single biggest consumption area, but it represents only about 30% of the energy use of commercial buildings. Lighting, at 25%, plays a much larger role than it does in the residential sector. Commercial buildings usually have the benefit of professional management, allowing centralized control and coordination of energy conservation efforts. As a result, fluorescent lighting (about 4 times as efficient as incandescent) is the standard for most commercial space, while it remains rare in individual homes. As most buildings have consistent hours of operation, programmed thermostats and lighting controls are common. Many corporations and governments also require the Energy Star rating for any new equipment purchased for their buildings. Industrial sectorThe industrial sector represents all production and processing of goods, including manufacturing, construction, farming and mining. In general, this sector's use of space conditioning and lighting is much less significant than the energy used to power heavy machinery and provide heating/cooling for various production processes. Increasing costs have forced energy-intensive industries to make substantial efficiency improvements in the past 30 years. For example, the energy used to produce steel and paper products has been cut 40% in that time frame, while petroleum/aluminum refining and cement production have reduced their usage by about 25%. These reductions are largely the result of recycling waste material and the use of cogeneration equipment for electricity and heating. Unlike the other sectors, total energy use in the industrial sector has declined in the last decade. While this is partly due to conservation efforts, it's also a reflection of the growing trend for U.S. companies to move manufacturing operations offshore. Issues with Energy ConservationNet-loss conservation effortsTo meet Wikipedia's quality standards and make it easier to understand, this article or section may require cleanup.This article or section may be confusing for some readers, and should be edited to be clearer. Please improve the article, or discuss the issue on the talk page. Some well-intentioned attempts at energy conservation may actually result in an increased energy usage, generally because of a failure to consider a number of the many factors involved in a given process. <!=== Please clarify elaborte & cite===> <!== The section below does not seem to relate to the section above==> For example, a consumer planning to purchase a new hybrid vehicle may focus on the improvement in the miles per gallon (MPG) rating of the hybrid over his or her current vehicle, without taking into acccount the money put into manufacturing the vehicle. The hybrid car may give 45 mpg, saving the average driver 278 gallons per year. The hybrid engine cost $3,000 extra, so with gasoline at $2.50 per gallon, it pays for itself in 4.3 years. Compared to the average van, pickup truck or SUV the hybrid saves 392 gallons per year, paying for itself in 3.1 years. Purchasing emerging technology products provides money to the developers which will likely result in future efficiency gains. Another example might be the consumer who shops online to save the cost of driving to a local store. However, these items are shipped individually from a warehouse that may be far away, so the energy cost of the shipment is much higher than a local purchase, which was shipped in bulk. Telecommuting may have a detrimental impact as well, as it requires a vast computer infrastructure to be effective. Worldwide, this infrastructure consumes significant energy resources. However, much of this infrastructure is already in place for other uses, and it is more energy efficient to move data across a network than to transport a person physically from home to workplace. U.S. companies hire people in India to answer telephones because the telephone connection costs only pennies a day, and it consumes milliwatt levels of electricity. Jevons ParadoxThe Jevons paradox is an observation made by William Stanley Jevons who stated that as technological improvements increase the efficiency with which a resource is used, total consumption of that resource may increase, rather than decrease. It may also be that some conservation efforts have the same effect. For example, if 10% of a country's population reduces its use of gasoline by 10%, the price of gasoline may drop, and the remaining 90% of the population may use more gasoline as a result. However, this observation has not been sufficiently studied, and energy conservation is generally regarded as a beneficial undertaking. See also
External linksConservation tips:
Conservation education:
U.S. energy statistics:
International collaborative research:
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