Energy efficiency and energy conservation are two terms that people often confuse and sometimes use interchangeably. Though the two have the same goal of reducing the use of energy, they have different meanings. Energy conservation focuses on minimising the activities that consume lots of energy. For example, it advocates for driving less, turning off lights, and using appliances less often. On the other hand, energy efficiency uses technology to reduce or avoid waste of energy. Thus, you can still drive, use lights, and use appliances but use lesser energy while doing so. To achieve energy efficiency, you have to be careful; for example, with where you source your appliances, you need to look for companies that offer appliances that are energy efficient. You can always visit review sites such as Britainreviews.co.uk and look at energy companies UK online reviews. You will be able to see energy companies reviewed by previous clients. Choose to buy energy-efficient appliances from the positively reviewed companies. This article offers the reader some facts about energy efficiency.
Methods that help improve energy efficiency
Energy technologies are used to convert sources of energy into energy services, including heat, mobility and lighting. In any conversion of energy, there is a loss of a certain amount of energy. Various design features and technologies are available to help improve energy efficiency, especially in the transportation sectors and buildings. There are various energy-efficient appliances, devices, and other equipment that will allow users to enjoy the services without interruption. There also other measures that help minimise consumption of energy, and this includes improving a building’s insulation.
Buildings
Buildings are a significant contributor to pollution in the environment resulting from the use of energy. To ensure that the climate change impacts are mitigated, it is vital to ensure that energy use in buildings is reduced. Specifically, buildings can be made more energy efficient by having optimal designs and using more energy-efficient technologies. There are two sources of energy used by buildings: fossil fuels, including natural gas and electricity. In commercial buildings and residences, most consumers use electricity to power their equipment and appliances. With time, new technologies on this appliance, including refrigerators, washing machines, and refrigerators, have led to more energy-efficient appliances. With more consumers adopting these more energy-efficient appliances, there is a decrease in the use of energy while still achieving the same output from the appliances. Other measures can be taken over and above, replacing the older and less efficient appliance with more efficient newer appliances. These measures include having better designs in building as well as insulation. For a new building, this can involve altering architectural designs, such as the strategic design of window placement to accommodate a home’s better cooling or heating needs. Existing buildings can also be made more energy-efficient through ways such as sealing areas that cause air leakage.
Transportation
The transportation sector is also a great contributor to environmental pollution due to inefficient energy sources. Some ways to achieve efficiency in the transportation sector include having vehicles with design features that will help better fuel economy and the whole sector transition to more efficient vehicles. In vehicles, energy efficiency is known as fuel economy and is expressed as the miles that a car has travelled per gallon of gasoline. There are various ways to improve a vehicle’s fuel economy. This includes improving the vehicles engine design so it can utilise lesser fuel. It can also involve decreasing the vehicle’s weight. For instance, Hybrid cars have a start-stop engine design that will switch off when the vehicle stops to ensure that no fuel is wasted when the car is idling. Trucks also have such options; for example, they are designed to decrease air resistance. Switching from diesel or gasoline to more efficient electric or hybrid vehicle will help enhance energy efficiency in the transport sector. Majority of vehicles have internal combustion engines that convert the potential energy in diesel or gasoline into kinetic energy to help propel the vehicle. Internal combustion engines are highly inefficient, with only a 12 to 30{fd3363d38dceecb506616724730ddb9e1fe21862034eb3f47ab79cfb92945748} efficiency rate. On the other side, electric and hybrid vehicles have a much greater efficiency of up to 77{fd3363d38dceecb506616724730ddb9e1fe21862034eb3f47ab79cfb92945748}. By switching to electric and hybrid vehicles, they offer lots of environmental benefits.
In conclusion, the planet is suffering from some of the bad effects of environmental pollution due to the inefficient use of energy. It is thus important to encourage the efficient use of energy. This article gives facts about energy efficiency and how to achieve it to enjoy the accompanying benefits.