Report: households use too much energy

30% global energy use at home

Marci Gilbert, Mar 15, 11.

Oil tycoons, mining giants, and airlines make for such perfect villains in the global-warming debate that it is easy to forget the environmental impact of a humble household, according to a story in The Economist. A report published this week by the OECD, a rich-country think tank, notes that households use up to 30% of global energy production, and emit 20% of its CO2 emissions. The paper, which contains results from a major international survey, looks at ways governments can steer households towards a greener future:

The conclusion of the report is that more demand-side schemes to encourage people to make environmentally-friendly decisions for themselves are needed. This may prove hard. Politicians face an uphill battle, as nearly half of the respondents declared themselves unwilling to pay a penny more for renewably-sourced electricity, for instance. But the authors believe that soft policy measures like eco-labelling and public-information campaigns can make a real difference in nudging people to reduce their energy consumption.

In contrast, the Green Deal for household energy savings announced by the British government last year is ruthlessly pragmatic. The scheme allows licensed companies to offer customers credit at no initial cost toward work to make their homes or workplaces more energy-efficient. The loan is paid back in instalments added to the customer’s (reduced) energy bill. The reasoning is simple: since households will not fork out cash for double-glazing or loft insulation to save the environment, they need to be inveigled into efficiency savings with a promise of free cash.

Source: The Economist