Efficiency when applied to energy means getting the same service for less cost. Conservation means doing without. However, they are not mutually exclusive. By combining both efficiency and conservation significant savings can result.
For example, I replaced all of my incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent lamps for a 75% reduction in electricity costs. When my old air conditioner broke down I had an energy efficient unit installed. I recently had additional insulation placed in the attic which is already reducing my heating bills. By switching to a Natural Gas Vehicle I save $100 for every $1,000 miles driven based on gasoline at $2.56 a gallon.
As for conservation, it helps to think in terms much broader than energy. I cancelled my satellite television subscription for a significant monthly savings. With money in the bank and no debt I found I could do without life insurance and became self-insured. With children married I sent back one garbage can for a reduction of $13 a month. I recently disconnected my telephone service and went to cell phone only.
Efficiency can produce just as dramatic results as conservation. Between 1900 and 1913 the amount of coal per kWh fell from seven pounds to three pounds. Said Samuel Insull in 1916:
I think that while a great many of our well intentioned friends have been shouting about the conservation of natural resources, the steam-turbine inventors and the designing engineers of the great power companies using steam as a prime source of power have probably done more to conserve the natural resources of this country, in so far as fuel is concerned, than has been done by all the agitation that has taken place upon the general subject of conservation.
And today less than one pound of coal is required per kWh in electricity generation. And tomorrow the amount will be even less.
Efficiency is the preferred way of saving energy and other resources because it doesn’t reduce your standard of living. But don’t neglect conservation when there are marginal or overlapping services.
I tend to lean a little more to the efficiency side of things – getting more done with less is always a good thing in my mind. As to the conservation side of things, I have been inclined to ignore it. This isn’t because I want to be wasteful, I simply don’t like how the media and politicians have twisted the debate into a worldwide crisis of global warming and the like. It’s designed to create an environment where people are willing to give up some of their freedoms in the name of conservation. I believe that there are plenty of resources available, that nature is extremely efficient at cleaning up our messes, and that the resourcefulness of man will lead to solutions if we ever run out of something.
Darrell,
I am with you, “the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare.”
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