Energy Conservation

Energy conservation is the practice of decreasing the quantity of energy used while achieving a similar outcome. This procedure may result in increase an of financial capital, environmental value, national security, personal security, and human comfort. Individuals and organizations that are direct consumers of energy may want to conserve energy in order to reduce energy costs and promote economic, political and environmental sustainability. Industrial and commercial users may want to increase efficiency and in result, this maximizes their profit.
On a larger scale, energy conservation is an important element of energy policy. In general, energy conservation reduces the energy consumption and energy demand per capita, and in result, offsets the growth in energy supply needed to keep up with population growth. This reduces the rise in energy costs, and can reduce the need for new power plants, and energy imports. The reduced energy demand can provide more flexibility in choosing the most preferred methods of energy production.
By reducing emissions, energy conservation is an important part of lessening climate change. Energy conservation facilitates the replacement of non-renewable resources with renewable energy. Energy conservation is often the most economical solution to energy shortages, and is a more environmentally benign alternative to increased energy production. For example, a form of enery conservation can be simply just recycling. Recycling reuses and renews resources, it also reduces landfill deposition and conserves natural resources.

Whos the largest energy consumer?

The U.S. is currently the largest consumer of energy, at current levels of growth, it is possible that in the future China and India could become the leading energy consumer. The U.S. Department of Energy categorizes national energy use in four broad sectors: transportation, residential, commercial, and industrial. Energy usage in the transportation and residential sectors (about half of U.S. energy consumption) is largely controlled by individual domestic consumers.
For example, Home energy consumption averages:
How to reduce home energy usage
space conditioning, 44%
water heating, 13%
lighting, 12%
refrigeration, 8%
home electronics, 6%
laundry appliances, 5%
kitchen appliances, 4%
other uses, 8%
Energy usage in some homes may vary widely from these averages. For example, milder regions such as the southern U.S. and Pacific coast of the USA need far less energy for space conditioning than New York City or Chicago. On the other hand, air conditioning energy use can be quite high in hot-arid regions (Southwest) and hot-humid zones (Southeast) In milder climates such as San Diego, lighting energy may easily consume up to 40% of total energy. Certain appliances such as a hot tub, or pre-1990 refrigerator use significant amounts of electricity. However, recent trends in home entertainment equipment can make a large difference in household energy use. For instance a 50" LCD television (average on-time= 6 hours a day) may draw 300 Watts less than a similarly sized plasma system. In most residences no single appliance dominates, and any conservation efforts must be directed to a number of areas in order to achieve substantial energy savings. However, Ground and Water Source Heat Pump systems are the more energy efficient, there are environmentally clean, and cost-effective space conditioning systems available (Environmental Protection Agency), and can achieve reductions in energy consumptions of up to 70%!