According to what the best historians tell us, since 1750 our reliance on fossil fuels has risen unabated as we turn to coal and oil for everything. As the years have gone by and as we have become smarter, we have invented new ways to use energy to make our lives easier. This has been going on in the background, just as we have ignored scientists and environmentalists who have warned us about greenhouse gas emissions and the damage that is being caused to the world all around this.

It has only been fairly recently that we have actually woken up to understand what is going on. A lot of damage has been caused so far and if we don’t do something about it soon, our reliance on fossil fuels will stop us from repairing and reversing this damage. The benefits of renewable energy represent a clear advantage to us now and we realise that we should be helping the environment by making tangible changes.

Unfortunately, only about 5% of our energy needs are satisfied by renewable energy forms such as solar, wind, water and geothermal. It is certainly possible for us to generate enough electricity from such sources for our own consumption, but again unfortunately, it is prohibitively expensive for us to invest in such systems for our homes alone. If we look at solar energy as an option, probably the most well-known of solutions, as used by home owners in sunny climes, are energy panels that can be mounted to the roof to run certain appliances and heat water.

Some appliance manufacturers are working on the development of “smart” products that can be run individually from external, renewable energy sources. By doing so, we might be able to run a refrigerator using a solar panel, for example.

All governments are waking up and taking notice of the problems and are providing appropriate funds to help pay grants and incentives. If, as a home owner, you are willing to replace appliances that use a considerable amount of energy by retrofitting the systems accordingly, you will have the opportunity to get grants from the taxpayer. This is a good investment, as in the long run, a lower reliance on raw energy needs can only be viewed as a security enhancement from a wider point of view.

When it comes to ways to save electricity around the home, we can do this by using a type of renewable energy in its most basic form. If the climate that you live in allows this, why not consider using solar energy to dry your clothes? A typical clothes washer and dryer cycle can add to your energy bill considerably. Remember that individual steps can all make a difference and if we take concerted action, we can get there.

If you’re not able to take advantage of renewable energy in your home, insist that those companies that you pay money to make considerable efforts in the right direction. Look for information on companies that favour renewable energy sources. As it is such good public relations, companies that do are falling over themselves to let us know that they are good corporate citizens. Hold them all to account!

Tags: environment, environmental sustainability, renewable energy, saving electricity, saving money

We seem so engrossed as we run in place, just to make ends meet, that we are not capable of standing back and looking at the bigger picture any more. Why are we so grossly inefficient at the way that we run our lives? For many years now, we have dealt with pretty good times and have not had to worry about putting such expensive petrol into our cars, nor be concerned about the fact that without those cars we simply cannot exist. It’s been so long since we had a recession, we can’t remember what it is all about and some of us are too young anyway, being forced to read about these downturns in reference books! Whether it was time for a wake up call or not, we certainly got one.

It is crazy that we rely on mechanical energy forms to help us do everything, without question. Energy inefficiency has led to huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, causing damage to the environment and forcing us to consider major changes, right now. We talk a good story about the benefits of renewable energy, but we are not helping the environment by diverting funds away from the research and development needed to actually make these options work for us.

Now we can see how vulnerable we are to an economic downturn and we can see that the “great recession” has exposed this vulnerability. Now, efficiency is everything and this most definitely includes the use of energy. We need to learn to turn things off, to think of alternatives and not to opt for the path of least resistance. It’s just not good enough to clog our roads with vehicles carrying just one occupant as we go back and forth to our work, and we should review our transportation activities carefully.

At home or in the office, think of ways to save electricity and if you are the decision-maker, you must be the one to take action. Just as an example, you could turn the thermostat down by a degree or so, insist that the family turn off all the lights when not in use, make sure the clothes are washed together and not individually and in general ensure that we are all better keepers of the space that we live in.

We shouldn’t rely on politicians to do our work for us. Few seem to doubt the validity of those environmental claims, but political agendas are still getting in the way of making any headway. The so-called “summit” attended by our leaders in Copenhagen failed to produce any realistic action, once again.

We don’t have to wait around for politicians to try and force big business to solve these issues. We need to understand that by working individually, we can end up working together and if we all do our own bit we can steadily reduce energy use and cut back on the size of our global carbon footprint daily. Start right away by putting “people power” into action and let’s all enjoy the journey, taking advantage of the fact that there are billions of us around the world with an almost unbelievable combined potential – but only if we act now!

Tags: environment, environmental sustainability, renewable energy, saving electricity, saving money