A Better Fridge
More than half of all residential power goes into running household appliances, producing a fifth of the worlds carbon emissions. And thats true even though manufacturers have already hiked the efficiency of refrigerators and other white goods by as much as 70 percent since the 1980s. According to an International Energy Agency study, if consumers chose those models that would save them the most money over the life of the appliance, theyd cut global residential power consumption （and their utility bills ） by 43 percent. Flexible Payment
Who says you have to pay for all your conservation investments？ "Energy service contractors" will pay for retrofitting （翻新改造） in return for a share of the clients annual utility-bill savings. In Beijing, Shenwu Thermal Energy Technology Co. specializes in retrofitting Chinas steel furnaces. Shenwu puts up the initial investment to install a heat exchanger that preheats the air going into the furnace, slashing the clients fuel costs. Shenwu pockets a cut of those savings, so both Shenwu and the client profit.
If saving energy is so easy and profitable, why isnt everyone doing it？ It has to do with psychology and a lack of information. Most of us tend to look at todays price tag more than tomorrows potential savings. That holds double for the landlord or developer, who wont actually see a penny of the savings his investment in better insulation or a better heating system might generate. In many peoples minds, conservation is still associated with self-denial. Many environmentalists still push that view.
Smart governments can help push the market in the right direction. The EUS 1994 law on labeling was such a success that it extended the same idea to entire buildings last year. To boost the market value of efficiency, all new buildings are required to have an "energy pass" detailing power and heating consumption. Countries like Japan and Germany have successively tightened building codes, requiring an increase in insulation levels but leaving it up to builders to decide how to meet them.
The most powerful incentives, of course, will come from the market itself. Over the past year, sky-high fuel prices have focused minds on efficiency like never before. Ever-increasing pressure to cut costs has finally forced more companies to do some math on their energy use.
Will it be enough？ With global demand and emissions rising so fast, we may not have any choice but to lay. Efficient technology is here now, proven and cheap. Compared with all other options, its the biggest, easiest and most profitable bang for the buck.
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