If consumers switched to more energy-efficient appliances, there wouldn't be such a desperate need to find new energy resources, a conference was told yesterday.
That doesn't mean consumers have to go out and change -- at a large cost -- all their home appliances, said Amory Lovins, a world-renowned energy expert.
Instead, said Lovins, if consumers put energy efficiency as top priority when replacing an appliance, the cumulative effect would be enormous.
"Whenever you get something that uses energy, shop for the most energy-efficient appliance," he said.
"This doesn't necessarily mean you have to pay more, because there's no correlation between efficiency and cost. But you do have to shop around. . . . You can save from half to three-quarters of your energy bill."
Lovins was speaking to a B.C. Hydro Power Smart conference in Vancouver from which emerged a clear indication that energy conservation is changing from a nice-to-have situation espoused by environmentalists to a hard-headed business decision that can save companies and consumers billions of dollars.
This is essentially made possible by new energy-efficient technology that often provides large cost-saving benefits.
The Power Smart program, for example, is trying to change B.C.'s roughly 90,000 traffic signal lights from incandescent to LED, which uses far less energy and lasts seven times longer.
As CEO of the Rocky Mountain Institute, an energy-use think-tank in Snowmass, Colo., Lovins lives in a house that's so efficient it costs him only $7 Cdn a month for electricity.
Similarly, says Lovins, corporations and organizations can reap huge savings by simply replacing energy-gobbling systems when it's time for a refit.
twanless@pacpress.southam.ca
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