North America is the Maxwell Smart of energy efficiency. There are easier, more intelligent, more effective ways of achieving significant advances, but here we are hopping around on one foot trying to talk into a shoe. Meanwhile Europe, as seductively competent Agent 99, is busy getting the job done.
Allow me to illustrate the gap so far:
- The average North American emits twice as much carbon as the average European.
- The ecological footprint of an average European is half that of the average North American.
- Europe is the world leader in wind generated power… North America has less than half of that wind capacity.
- Cogeneration, the recapturing of waste heat from power plants for heating buildings, was pioneered in Europe. Cogeneration supplies 40 to 50% of all energy used in the Netherlands, Finland and Denmark. Even industrial giants like Germany have 20% of their energy supplied by cogeneration. In the US? Only 8%.
- The average North American building uses one third more energy than the average European building.
It is not surprising that Europe is doing so well in the field of energy efficiency and greater renewable energy capacity. What is disturbing is that North America is busy trying to carve its own path instead of following the evidently effective example offered by Europe. Naturally not every scheme devised in Europe can transfer perfectly into a North American situation, given the significant differences in distance and population density. Yet there is still a lot to learn from watching Agent 99′s steady progress.
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Take smart meters for example. These handy devices can allow two-way communication between utilities and buildings in order to optimize energy efficiency by a variety of means. Utilities can monitor building energy use which can help them better manage demand response. Buildings (and building owners) can monitor their energy use and how much it is costing them; this gives them the necessary information in real time to change behaviour, rather than waiting for a monthly statement which appears detached from real actions. Installing smart meters is just the first step in switching to a smart energy grid.
In North America, smart meters have been distributed by some utilities, mainly in California, Texas, Ontario and BC. Many of these efforts remain on a trial basis. In Europe, Italy leads the pack with the largest ever roll-out of smart meters to over 27 million customers. Italy started this project back in 2000 and wrapped it up in 2005, before any North American deployment efforts had even begun (apart from one very small trial in California).
The point of these statistics is not to induce a sense of shame or embarrassment. It is ok to think the shoe-phone is pretty cool, up to a certain point. However, when technology, implementation strategies, legislation and all the other elements have moved forward and can readily be seen in positive examples like those provided by Europe… isn't it time to get smart?
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