Consuming Less Energy Is As Important as Green Energy
Avoid the Superfluous. Decarbonize the Necessary.
“Energy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite this nation, and it can be the standard around which we rally. On the battlefield of energy, we can win for our nation a new confidence and we can seize control again of our common destiny.”
— U.S. President Jimmy Carter, July 15, 1979
Until some time ago, I was convinced that renewable energy was the single best solution to reduce global carbon emissions. I believed that getting rid of fossil fuels was just a matter of installing more solar panels and wind turbines. I believed that technology was the best answer to reverse man-made global warming.
There are many names for this belief. Some call it decarbonization, others decoupling. The underlying assumption is that everyone on this planet can live according to the western lifestyle, just supported by clean energy instead of fossil fuels.
However, we cannot just rely on beliefs if we want to reach carbon neutrality before it’s too late. Instead, we should think strategically and combine all viable solutions. Next to renewable energy production, there exists a much more fundamental approach to reduce carbon emissions, which works instantaneously and it’s free: consuming less energy.
Energy conservation is the fastest, cheapest, and most effective way of reducing carbon emissions. Because the cleanest form of energy is the energy that was never consumed.
Increasing renewable energy production can only lower the carbon intensity of each unit of energy we consume. Instead, reducing the amount of energy we consume eliminates the problem ahead. Why then not combining both of them to speed up the independence from fossil fuels? As a matter of fact, this is not even an option, but a necessity.
In the last two decades, global annual carbon emissions increased by about 50%, despite the growth of renewable energy. Why? Because global energy consumption increased by about 50% in the same period of time. As long as global energy consumption grows faster than the carbon intensity reduction achieved by new renewables, carbon emissions will only keep growing, and decarbonization will remain an illusion.
Consuming less energy and producing renewable energy are both necessary to reach carbon neutrality.
Despite this plain reality, some climate-friendly individuals seem to purposely set aside the topic of energy conservation. The believers of absolute decarbonization will often tell you that energy consumption plays a secondary role. They will try to persuade you that the only problem is that renewable energy is not expanding fast enough.
Their words will be driven by good intent and passion, but their faith in technology might be so strong as to let them disregard other carbon-saving alternatives. By doing so, their faith works against the very same goal it was meant to achieve in the first place. But first of all, the faith in technology is deceiving because it prevents learning from history.
What Does History Tell Us?
The first trend to consider is that of historical carbon emissions, as shown in the plot below. You can notice some short breaks occurring along with the ever-increasing trend. All these temporary reductions of carbon emissions were caused by a temporary reduction of energy consumption associated with some geopolitical crisis.
For instance, you can spot the Great Depression of 1929, then WWII, the 1979 oil crisis, and the fall of the Soviet Union at the beginning of the ’90s. More recently, the 2008 financial crisis, where carbon emissions fell by -1.4%. And if the plot above were up-to-date, one would also see the effects of the Covid19 pandemic. As estimated by the International Energy Agency, the year 2020 registered a record reduction of -6% in energy consumption with respect to 2019.
These examples make it unquestionable that achieving carbon neutrality is as much a technological challenge as a consumption-related challenge. In fact, consumption has shown to have a dominant voice so far. However, this might not be enough to convince a believer of absolute decarbonization.
It is then necessary to consider the historical trend of global direct primary energy consumption. This quantity represents the total amount of energy consumed by the whole of mankind each year for all possible needs: energy for homes and industry; heating and cooling of buildings; fuel for cars, ships, planes, and agricultural machinery; energy to mine resources and build infrastructure; baking pizzas and anything else you can think of.
Similarly to carbon emissions, the historical growing trend of global energy consumption does not come as a surprise since it has been scaling with population size too. Today, however, consumption growth is mainly driven by the increase in per-capita consumption, especially in developing countries. While population control is not an ethical nor a timely-feasible alternative, our energy footprint has a lot of room for improvement.
The numbers are truly insane. On a global average, the per-capita daily energy consumption is about 50 kWh. (Note: this number includes also the per-capita share of industry, transportation, etc.). This is as if every single person is operating 50 washing machine cycles daily. In Europe, this average is as high as 100 kWh, and it reaches 200 kWh in the USA. In poor countries, per-capita consumption is about 20 kWh.
The most valuable insights come from the breakdown of primary energy into different energy sources. We can see that:
- As of today, more than 85% of the world’s energy still comes from fossil fuels. And hydropower alone makes about half of the current renewable energy production. Considering the time scale of the plot above, it should appear obvious that solar and wind energy can’t physically catch up with our entire energy needs within 2050, even if consumption were to be held constant. Moreover, the expansion of renewable energy is ultimately constrained by the availability of mineral raw minerals necessary for their construction. Thus, cutting energy consumption is undoubtedly crucial to speed up the independence from fossil fuels.
- Abundance is a bad teacher of parsimony: adding new energy sources typically incentivizes more consumption. For instance, when people started using coal in the 19th century, they thought it could have replaced wood and preserved forests. Instead, you can see from the plot above that coal just added on top of “traditional biomass.” Later, the same pattern repeated for oil and gas too. This is why only ramping up renewable energy production won’t automatically reduce our fossil fuel dependency.
These last considerations should be more than convincing about the necessity of reducing energy consumption. Maybe a culinary parallelism makes it clearer: without addressing energy consumption, renewable energy alone is as helpful as adding a pinch of salad to a junk, hypercaloric diet. You can add all the salad you want, but you won’t get lean if you keep eating a pile of burgers daily. Time to cut down all those kcals. Time to cut down all that energy.
“We often think of conservation only in terms of sacrifice. In fact, it is the most painless and immediate way of rebuilding our nation’s strength.”
— U.S. President Jimmy Carter, July 15, 1979
Avoid the Superfluous. Decarbonize the Necessary.
What does it mean to reduce energy consumption? Shall we abandon the comforts of the western lifestyle? Should we intentionally seek an economic recession? Maybe in part. The sure thing is that, above all, reducing energy consumption is a matter of choice.
We first need to figure out which applications of energy are superfluous and which are necessary. Decarbonizing everything is timely and practically unfeasible. Therefore, the only viable solution is to avoid unnecessary energy utilization and, at the same time, selectively employ renewable energy to decarbonize those sectors that are fundamental for the functioning of modern society.
Some concrete examples?
More biking and efficient public transport. Fewer cars (of any type).
Electric cars are often seen as the symbol of the energy transition. However, the concept of private cars is a nightmare in terms of responsible energy usage. Regardless of combustion engine or batteries, all cars represent an extravagant waste of energy, which is hardly justifiable in front of the urgency of climate change (you need 75 kWh to fully charge a Tesla Model 3!). Conversely, using more public transportation or muscle force would save tons of energy, resources, city space, and our health. Completely dismissing cars everywhere is obviously unlogical, but it is definitely worth reconsidering if the luxus of private mobility for everyone is really compatible with the sustainability goals we aim for. It’s all about choices.
More green hydrogen. Less carbon-intensive sectors.
Aviation, steel production, and synthetic fertilizers are examples of carbon-heavy sectors that constitute an irrevocable part of modern civilization. Here, technological intervention is crucial. Fortunately, decarbonizing these sectors can be achieved with a common solution: green hydrogen. The term green stands for hydrogen that is produced through water electrolysis by means of renewable electricity. Green hydrogen is gradually becoming competitive with fossil-fuel alternatives thanks to the falling prices of renewable power and, most importantly, thanks to the progress in electrolyzer technology.
The electrolyzer is the very heart of the conversion of renewable energy from electrical to chemical form. Companies like Sunfire, PowerCell, and Nel have developed scalable and reliable electrolysis solutions of unprecedented efficiency. Thanks to their technology, green hydrogen has become a versatile game-changer that can decarbonize energy-intensive applications where battery-based solutions aren’t feasible.
Importantly, green hydrogen can be employed directly or used to synthesize carbon-neutral eFuels, which can be employed for conventional planes and heavy road transport.
The growth potential of green hydrogen has been quickly recognized by major energy companies, such as Enel and NextEra Energy. However, it will be important to prioritize the usage of this precious form of energy where it is most needed. It’s all about choices.
More energy efficiency. Less energy speculation.
Responsible management of individual energy consumption should be a must. In fact, it is also attractive because any improvement in energy efficiency saves not only carbon emissions but also money. Optimizing energy usage is especially straightforward if we leverage smart solutions to make treasure of all the data around us.
The digital revolution is making energy conservation easily accessible to more and more individuals. For instance, I recently came across the Tibber app: its users can benefit from a smart, real-time overview of their electricity usage, a favourable energy contract based on renewable power, and tips to optimize home heating, illumination, and much more.
Ironically, the money-saving effect of energy efficiency is the reason why energy conservation is not the favourite topic of the energy industry, whose goal is to maximize its profits, nor of politicians, whose goal is to maximize Gross Domestic Product. Maybe it is worth reconsidering if balance sheets really matter more than the prosperity of future generations. It’s all about choices.
More reuse, repair, and recycling. Less consumerism.
Our consumption-driven economy incentivizes us to constantly buy products of any type. The manufacturing and shipping of goods constitute a substantial portion of global energetic needs. Each of us has the power to counteract consumerism with three simple actions: reuse, repair, and recycling.
Every product that gets a new life saves both the energy and the resources to manufacture a new one and the environmental impact of disposing of the old one. Successful business stories can arise from second-hand products and add value to local communities, such as the Belgian-Flemish De Kringwinkel. When instead you decide to repair something yourself, you don’t only do a favour to the world, but you also learn how things really work. For more inspiration about becoming a repair master, have a look at the iFixit community. It’s all about choices.
Prosperity Without Growth?
As beautifully depicted in Tim Jackson’s masterpiece “Prosperity Without Growth,” a finite planet and a growth-driven economy are deeply incompatible. Planet Earth is big but ultimately finite, so it can’t support an endless demand for more resources and more energy.
The subtlety about all solutions to reduce energy consumption is that they address the problem of growth at its core. At first sight, energy conservation is about changing our actions or our technology. Eventually, it’s all about the same goal: promoting a circular economy, where the entirety of human activities is in balance with the environment in terms of matter and energy. You want to take only what you need, make good use of it, and then give it back to nature. This is the precise opposite of the linear economy, where you take everything possible, use it poorly, and then dump it somewhere.
The realization of a circular economy is not only a change of logistics and processes but especially a change of mindset. Reducing our exaggerated energetic needs is part of that mindset. Rethinking our consumption logic too. In this regard, I’ll borrow once more the passionate words of President Jimmy Carter, who, in the midst of the 1979 oil crisis, addressed the nation with his memorable speech “The Crisis of Confidence.” Back then, his words were motivated by concerns about domestic economic stability. Today, they sound oddly relevant in front of much greater global challenges.
“Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we’ve discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. […] Every act of energy conservation is more than just common sense. I tell you, it is an act of patriotism. It can rekindle our sense of unit, our confidence in the future and give our nation and all of us individually a new sense of purpose.”
— U.S. President Jimmy Carter, July 15, 1979
