World Energy Saving day → 21st of October
Since the industrial revolution, our livelihoods have completely been transformed by energy availability. But that’s not so good… While we are highly reliant on it, energy consumption leads to several environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, and solid waste disposal. The more energy we consume, the more electricity plants need to burn to meet our demands. In turn, this leads to more harmful gasses being emitted into the environment and atmosphere.
So, while we are all trying to switch to more electronic devices to save paper or electric cars to save fuel, let’s not forget that these new advancements are not all fun and games. For instance, it’s good to be aware that every request sent through ChatGpt uses 10x as much energy as a normal Google search. By 2030, it is predicted that it will consume double the amount of energy of France and it will account for 3.5% of the world electricity’s demand. Why is this an issue? The energy that ChatGpt needs mostly comes from the burning of fossil fuels, which are the leading cause of global warming.
Here are some facts about energy consumption:
In 2017, 28% of total world emissions came from electricity, second only to transportation.
In 2023, global energy consumption accelerated in comparison to other years, with the biggest emitters being China, the US, and India respectively.
In 2022, households contributed to almost 26% of total energy consumption.
As the last data shows, people’s choices matter when trying to reduce the world’s energy consumption. This is because energy supply is tight with energy demand and, therefore, reducing energy consumption is the easiest and more direct way to address the energy crisis.
If you’d like to start shifting your energy consumption behavior and don’t know where to start, these tips are for you:
Unplug your chargers and electronics after use
Don’t leave your technology and appliances connected in standby mode. It will still use electricity even when not turned on
If you can, switch to LED lights
Use a microwave when you can! It consumes much less electricity than an oven or stovetop
Take shorter showers
Wait until you have a full load before running the washing machine
