If it werent for energy efficiency we would still be living in caves. It is energy efficient improvements in our work (energy), that has taken human civilisation to our present predicament. The History of human civilisation is a story of energy efficient improvements in work practises. But instead of realising we have enough, that we are rich enough, and having a long long holiday to let the rest of the world catch up, We get fatter and fatter on the more and more **** that we stuff our whale like mouths, and chuck away. Ha. what would you do with the money you saved on energy efficiency? take a break. no way! you would add more **** to your pile, and cause more global warming! This is what we do. RENEWABLES are the answer. that and sharing the wealth and have a lifetime holiday, give the earth a break and us too! Now theres a new angle! Permaculture here we go,
2006-10-30
10:27:32
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5 answers
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asked by
green_womble
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in
Social Science
➔ Economics
I think you may have misunderstood the term 'energy efficiency'. Energy efficiency refers to getting more benefit from the same amount of energy. For example, a more enrgy efficient car might use only half as much fuel as a less energy efficient one. Similarly, fluorescent light bulbs can lite our homes using about one eighth of the electricity of a standard one and so are more energy efficient. Therefore, energy efficiency can reduce how much energy we use without us even having to compromise our modern lifestyle. Therefore, it a no brainer that it should be considered as part of a solution to global warming. However, if you take it to the extreme, bikes are more efficient than trucks in terms of oil burnt, so you can take it too far.
Even renewables can have negative environmental impacts - eg birds being killed by wind trubines, sealife killed by wave generators, habitat cleared to grow biofuels etc. Since global warming is such a big problem, I suspect that both energy efficiency and renewables will be needed and that neither is the answer by itself.
2006-10-30 12:54:49
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answer #1
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answered by eco101 3
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You are right, 'efficient energy' will not make global warming disappear.
We would just be making a disastrous situation less so, or at least move slower towards disaster because the damage we do would grow lesser.
Using wind turbines, waves, the sun to generate energy would definitely be more efficient and cause less damage, but it would cost a huge pile to build these facilities and start using them immediately.
I think we should move towards these natural sources of energy as a goal, but along the way doing other stuff that mitigates the destruction we are doing such as re-forestation, waste reduction, recycling...
I guess that this is achievable within our lifetimes.
However, I think it would be harder to make people change their behaviour and start accumulating less, and taking only what they really need (no whale mouths but human mouths, not layers of fats on your body and also strangling your organs on the inside while others starve)... This behaviour is at the heart of capitalism: selfish accumulation. And it is unlikely to end in my lifetime at least.
Again, what we can do as responsible consumers is only buy products from organisations that do care about the environment and people, that do not sell products that cost $25 to manufacture at $125 just because of a label, that do not implant in poorer countries only to run when another poorer country is found to be exploited...
By making conscious purchase decisions, we can force corporations to listen to us. It will take time, and effort from a whole slew of us, but we can do it. Use the system to beat the system.
2006-10-30 13:11:50
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answer #2
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answered by ekonomix 5
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skill performance would not reason worldwide warming. the optimal clarification for - and a powerful venture that's - worldwide warming is that water vapor keeps the earth from radiating the day's heat temperature from the solar decrease back into area at evening. without it, the in many cases used temperature of the planet may well be -17C (2F), and because if it, the in many cases used temperature is +15C (59F). next, there is no new worldwide warming, and particularly, no new worldwide warming by way of human activity. Arrhenius replace into incorrect, and after he replace into shown to be incorrect, he stopped arguing. CO2 absorbs maximum effectively the place water absorbs, meaning that there is no additive consequence; if the CO2 absorbs warmth, some water has not and we stay in stability. If, after yet another 50 years, there is an observable trend (as there has not been in the previous 50), it is going to likely be traced to an strengthen in photograph voltaic output (insolation). The era from 1947 to 1974 replace into marked via an usual shrink in worldwide temperature (the 1st Earth Day marked a concern a pair of coming Ice Age), and the NASA records from 1979 to 2003 exhibits NO strengthen (see hyperlink). For a fuller communicate on the subject rely and how proponents use deceptive language and records, see the 2nd reference (DVD). For an exciting, if unsuitable, diagnosis of the background of GW, see the 0.33 reference. This author is a "believer", meaning that when he comments how the technological understanding and the information do not help the hypothesis that CO2 motives GW, he gets decrease back on board by way of fact of a later correlation via an amateur meteorologist. The correlation has not been borne out when you consider that. So, the terrific reaction to this question is that that's badly framed and begs the question (via featuring the respond as portion of the question).
2016-10-16 13:38:43
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answer #3
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answered by bridgman 4
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Without ENERGY nothing could MOVE in this world even EVIL and ANGLES cant work without energy. Therefore ENERGY is needed by everythig and everybody even EARTH need energy to orbit the SUN and Sun need a huge of energy to orbit our Milkyway Galaxy.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY means we need to RECYCLE all the WASTE that had been produced by the world so that we at all time keep balancing between the USAGE and RECYCLE of all material as a source of our energy; for example, we need to replant every tree that was cut down or breeding every chicken we had consume. In other word, we need to restore and maintain the ECOSYSTEM of the world by PUT IT BACK what we had took and REPLACE what we had use.
To be able us to practising ENERGY EFFICIENCY, God through the massagger and the prophaet had revealed to mankind the teory of HEAVEN. Should mankind denying this reality then they would turn this world to a HELL and the sign of this known to us as GLOBAL WARMING.
In simple explanation, Global Warming is the clear sign that most of man on earth now a days are prefer to adopt evil's way and refused to accept the way of God in managing the world.
We dont have to live in the cave or go back into Permaculture aged for RENEWABLES our world as what we need is to believe then to accept the KINGDOME of HEAVEN and that means all of us should practising the TEORY of GOD to build human civilisation according to what was told and written. Unfortunately many had heared but they dont believe and many had read but they dont understand.
2006-10-30 14:34:23
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answer #4
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answered by mad 2
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The killing off of our rain forest isn't helping the problem.
2006-10-30 10:29:42
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answer #5
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answered by Anonymous
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