On a previous Motors@Work Blog; IT’S TIME TO GET ENERGY EFFICIENCY OFF THE TABLE AND INTO PRACTICE, U.S. Secretary of Energy, Dr. Earnest Moniz was quoted “Efficiency is going to be a big focus going forward. I just don’t see the solutions to our biggest energy and environmental challenges without a very big demand-side response. That’s why it’s important to move this way, way up in our priorities. We must get it off the table and into practice.” The Blog addressed systematic energy management integration into an operation. What was not addressed was the environmental imperative.
It is no longer debatable that CO2 is warming the planet, what can be debated is the uncertainty of how bad the effects will be. But in all debates what is agreed on is that we need to get to zero CO2 emissions. Not near zero, the temperature will continue to rise, but zero!
During a recent talk on the climate problem, Bill Gates presented a formula to put climate change into perspective: CO2 = P x S x E x C. CO2, the product, is what we wish to be zero. P stands for population, an ever-increasing number. The services we use such as food, clothing, heating and cooling, and water, is represented by the variable S. Variable E represents the energy for each service and finally C, which represents the CO2 emitted into the environment for each unit of energy for the services consumed by the population. Somehow we have to make changes that will bring this down to zero. We have to go from rising to falling, all the way to zero. This means that that energy based carbon emissions must ultimately be zero.
Almost every way we make electricity today, except for nuclear and some renewable, emit CO2. And so what is needed is an entirely new system, a global system or systems that have the reliability and scale to meet the world’s energy needs without impacting the environment. There are many ideas being worked on today. And many will be contributing technologies to the ultimate solution, and if they can do better than projected all the better, however there are really only handful that have the scale needed. But in all cases the development of commercially deployable technology with the scale necessary is simply not available yet. So while these efforts are underway what do we do, stand by and wait for a new global energy system? The answer is easy, we can’t afford to wait.
So, what should our objectives be? It is widely agreed that by 2050 we should cut our emissions by 80%, which equates to emissions in the developed world being at zero and have a new global energy system deployed. However, it is also agreed, that by 2020 we should cut our emissions by 20% while developing the next generation technology. This time line assumes that we need to start addressing the CO2 emissions through energy mitigation now. How? Through the use of energy efficiency technology that will enable behavioral change, conservation and control measures, and demand reduction. So where do you start?
If you are a commercial or industrial company, a Gov’t, NGO, or Public Sector organization why not start with managing your motors energy performance in order to curb your current emissions. They consume over 25% of the world’s energy! Sustainable motor energy performance management requires defined discipline responsibility incorporated into the day-to-day life-cycle business processes. Motors@Work understands the interdependent factors and provides the intelligence necessary to optimize the motor life-cycle energy performance.
So the moral imperative is obvious, we cannot wait for someone else to fix the problem, develop and deploy the breakthrough energy technology. We have to assume that it will happen … and hopefully by 2050. However we are all part of the problem and must be part of the solution. The good news is that you can start today because the technology is available to have a tremendous impact on what we can control. The benefits are too great and the consequences of non-action too dire not to take action and make a difference. Contact us today at info@motorsatwork.com for more information.