Page 18 - Respond 2018 Magazine

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It should be clear that we cannot continue to look at the for energy continues to rise at about 3% per year driven
challenges facing the world in isolation. It may be comforting by population growth, increased prosperity and mobility.
to do so, as focusing on a single issue can provide for Simply doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvement
greater clarity and easier communication. But this approach would reduce global energy costs by more than $2 trillion by
has the danger of simply storing up trouble for future 2030, slash the average household energy bill by a third, and
generations. create more than six million jobs by the end of this decade.

Our focus on measuring global success through GDP growth There are two main elements required to double the rate of
has trapped us in a linear view of society – focused on energy efficiency improvement. The first is accelerating the
extracting, consuming and emitting resources from energy renovation of existing infrastructure in developed countries.
to water, materials and food. We need to become much Secondly, there needs to be a focus on helping developing
smarter, more resource-efficient and change from a linear countries leapfrog to clean technologies such as solar-LED
approach to a circular society, in which long term quality of and combine these with new business models. It is a sad
life becomes the most important metric. This would ensure fact that many of the countries which have suffered the
that while economic competitiveness remains important, most from climate change have been least responsible for
our society would have at its core the health and well-being creating it. It is vital that developing countries do not follow
of all our citizens. the same destructive phases that the richer nations of the
world have been through.
By adding a focus on social equity and inclusiveness, we can
enter an age where the socio-economic model becomes When speaking about energy we often talk about individual
about Sustainalism, building on the foundations laid by technologies and their potential in their respective silos. In
capitalism and socialism, but taking the broader view which reality we must pursue them all. Energy efficiency, renewable
the challenges of today and tomorrow demand of us. energy and carbon engineering are all needed. Only by
enacting all of them in unison will we be able to achieve the
That broader view of Sustainalism will take us ultimate goal of carbon neutrality in the coming 40 to 50
years. The International Energy Agency projects that energy
efficiency needs to do over half of this job. One could say that
From To by combining energy efficiency and renewable energy we can
decarbonize society twice as fast and twice as cost-effectively.
More is better Better is best
The fact is that many of the technologies we need already
Lowest initial cost Least lifecycle cost exists, all that’s required is to take a longer-term view, and
use it.
Open product chains Closed systems / cycles
LED lighting is a perfect example. LED street lighting uses
Invoicing products / Leasing / financing at least 40% less energy than conventional lighting and has
hardware been around for years, and yet we still cling to outdated
and inefficient technology. Globally, lighting accounts for
Product focus Service focus
about 15% of all electricity consumption. We project this will
decline to 8% in 2030 while over the same period the global
GDP metrics Quality of life metrics tally of light points will have increased by 50% to 70 billion.
Simply adopting LED in place of incandescent lighting would
No-one is unaware of the need for our products and reduce energy consumption by a massive 53% and CO2
processes to become more energy efficient and yet, often emissions by 1,400 million tonnes.
due to a focus on the short term, there remains a reluctance
to make the transitions required. Moreover, innovation brings benefits beyond energy
efficiency. Looking at lighting specifically, around one in
To arrive at a carbon neutral world by 2050, we need to seven of the world’s population (some 1.1 billion people) are
drive overall energy efficiency improvements of at least 3% trapped in light poverty because – cut off from the grid – they
per year. “We” – industry, transport, public infrastructure, have no access to electric light. As a result, they are forced to
homes – must at least double the rate of energy efficiency use alternatives such as kerosene lamps and candles to light
improvement, primarily by accelerating infrastructure their homes – which claim an estimated 1.5 million lives every
renovation to around 3% per year. In parallel with this we year through respiratory illnesses and fires.
also need to be moving to clean energy sources at a rate
that also equates to 3% of our energy mix per year. But off-grid solar LED lighting solutions can help to end this
injustice, at a fraction of the long-term cost of kerosene or
Critically, the current rate of energy efficiency improvement typical infrastructure, while stimulating social and economic
hovers at around 1.5% per year. At the same time, demand development as communities are brought out of the dark.