What if the world could quickly slash climate-warming emissions, without having to build so much new renewable energy capacity?
That’s exactly what some experts say needs to happen, by improving the efficiency of appliances and electricity grids through efforts like plugging leaks and stopping so-called “vampire loads” from devices that pull power from wall sockets even when switched off.
By lowering the amount of power needed to perform the same tasks, the world could burn fewer fossil fuels and spend less on expanding solar or wind capacity.
Photo: Pixabay 照片：Pixabay
“We don’t just need to change the way we generate electricity, we need to change the ways we use it,” said Larissa Gross of E3G climate think tank.
At least 118 countries at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai have backed a pledge to improve energy efficiency rates by 4% each year until 2030. That would be a doubling of the 2% improvement in efficiency rates seen in 2022.
HOW CAN ENERGY BECOME MORE EFFICIENT?
Photo: Bloomberg 照片：彭博社
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has called efficiency the “first fuel” of the energy transition and one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
In its simplest form, energy efficiency can simply mean using appliances, technology or electronics that are designed to consume less energy, such as heat pumps or LED lighting.
At a larger scale, buildings can be designed with better insulation to lessen the need for air conditioning or heating. Factories or cities can improve wiring to get rid of leakages.
As more industries including transport seek to power up from the electric grid, rather than through burning fossil fuels, demands on the grid will rise steeply.
Government regulation can also help by, for example, requiring minimum energy performance standards in appliances, vehicles or manufacturing.
HOW MUCH ENERGY AND MONEY CAN BE SAVED?
Doubling the global average efficiency rate could provide half of all necessary emissions reductions in 2030, according to the IEA’s Net Zero Roadmap.
For the European Union and Britain, it would mean an overall reduction in CO2 emissions of 40 million metric tonnes each year by 2030. That translates to annual cost savings of about 10.5 billion euros (US$11.43 billion), Danfoss estimated in a November 2023 white paper.
Industries worldwide could save US$437 billion per year by 2030 with improved energy efficiency, according to an October 2023 industry collective report by the Energy Efficiency Movement.
WHAT OFFERS THE BIGGEST ENERGY SAVINGS?
Switching to electric vehicles or heat pumps can offer significant energy savings if plugging into grids that increasingly draw on renewable power sources.
Electric vehicles also waste less of their energy reserve than combustion-engine vehicles powered by gasoline.
The US Department of Energy estimates that EVs currently use 77% of their battery energy for power at the wheels. Gasoline vehicles can only harness about 12% to 30% of the energy from gas in their tanks.
Heat pumps can be up to five times more efficient than gas boilers, the IEA says.
In developing countries, including India and parts of Africa, the same logic applies to shifting to electric cookstoves instead of burning cow dung or firewood to cook.
“Electric cooking is hugely more efficient than biomass cooking,” said energy researcher Nick Eyre at Oxford University.
(Reuters)
如果世界能夠迅速削減導致氣候暖化的排放，而不用新建這麼多再生能源產能，那會怎樣呢？
這正是一些專家所說需要做的事，透過堵漏及防止所謂「吸血鬼負載」——即便在關閉時也從牆上插座獲取電力之設備——等措施，來提高電器與電網的效率。
透過降低執行相同任務所需的電量，世界可以燃燒更少的化石燃料，並減少用於擴大太陽能或風能發電能力的支出。
E3G氣候智庫的拉里薩‧格羅斯表示：「我們不僅需要改變發電方式，還需要改變用電的方式」。
在杜拜舉行的COP28氣候高峰會中，至少118個國家承諾，到2030年每年將能源效率提高4%。這將是2022年能源效率提高2%的兩倍。
能源如何變得更有效率？
國際能源署（IEA）將效率稱為能源轉型的「第一燃料」，也是減少溫室氣體排放最快、最具成本效益的方法之一。
從最簡單的角度來看，能源效率可以簡單意指使用能源消耗更少的電器、技術或電子產品，例如熱泵或LED照明。
在更大的規模上，建築物可以設計成具有更好的隔熱性能，以減少對空調或暖氣的需求。工廠或城市可以改善佈線以消除洩漏。
交通運輸等越來越多產業尋求透過電網供電，而非燃燒化石燃料，對電網的需求將隨之急劇上升。
政府監管也可提供幫助，例如要求電器、車輛或製造業達到最低能源效率標準。
可以節省多少能源和金錢？
根據國際能源署的淨零排放路徑圖，若將全球平均效率提高一倍，可在2030年實現將所有必要排放量減半。
對歐盟和英國來說，這表示到了2030年，二氧化碳的每年排放量將減少四千萬噸。丹佛斯公司在2023年11月發布的白皮書報告中估計，這意味每年可節省約105億歐元（114.3億美元）的成本。
根據「能源效率運動」2023年10月發布的產業集體報告，透過提高能源效率，到了2030年，全球各產業每年可節省4,370億美元。
什麼可以節省最多能源？
如果接入越來越多以再生能源發電的電網，改用電動車或熱泵可顯著節省能源。
與汽油驅動的內燃機汽車相比，電動車浪費的能源儲備也更少。
美國能源部估計，目前電動車77%的電池能量用於驅動車輪。汽油車只能利用其油箱中汽油大約12%至30%的能量。
國際能源署表示，熱泵的效率比瓦斯鍋爐高出五倍。
在包括印度和非洲部分地區在內的發展中國家，同樣的邏輯也適用於改用電爐而非燃燒牛糞或木柴煮飯。
牛津大學能源研究員尼克‧艾爾表示：「用電烹飪比用生物質烹飪效率高得多」。
（台北時報林俐凱編譯）
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