Solar and wind power is growing worldwide, but so is electricity consumption: as a result, renewables are often only added to the energy mix, rather than replacing fossil fuels.
Reducing energy demand would make net zero more achievable, but it recieves far less attention than decarbonisation efforts. This may be due to a perception that managing energy demand would be politically unpopular, requiring governments to make radical interventions into people’s lifestyles and spending.
Oliver Broad, Senior Research Fellow at University College London, tells Alasdair that such fears are unfounded. His team’s research found that the UK could reduce energy demand by 52% without new tech or overly disruptive societal change, and has worked with policymakers and public focus groups to demonstrate political acceptability.
2kW is an insane amount of energy surely? Even in the dead of winter we use far less than that. For a house of 2, highest per month usage was 600kWh, or 20kWh/day, so under half that goal or under a quarter per person.
That is without even trying and when I was “working” from home with my gaming/shitposting PC running all day as well. I am curious to see how it changes now that I have switched jobs and play games/shitpost on my phone all day in the office instead.
My home takes roughly 2-10 kW to heat in the winter. It’s just an old house and I don’t have the money to renovate it completely right now. Easier to pay ~500-600€ a month in the winter for heating (in the form of solid fuel + electricity for the heat pump) currently. Still cheaper than renting a tiny apartment all year round.
That’s just heating the home, does not include hot water, cooking, computer usage, driving the kid to kindergarten and back, etc.
It’s 2 kW total primary energy consumption, including everything. Transportation, industrial production, food production, your own electricity consumption, everything
Suppose food would be harder to calculate, I use a bike for transport though.