Working together is key to future energy management

Wednesday 27th April 2011

I recently read an article in The Guardian that stated the demand for electricity is expected to triple by 2050. It’s a scary thought, especially when you consider that the Government’s main aim over the next 20 odd years will be to reduce carbon emissions, and therefore limit energy consumption.

So, how exactly does Government plan on meeting the demand while reducing Britain’s carbon footprint?

As previously discussed within my blogs, the first step in carbon reduction will soon reach your home in the form of a smart meter. The Government’s expectation is that the smart meter rollout will bring the public on side and encourage them to reduce their reduce energy consumption. But I fear they’re missing a trick.

Smart meters and the smart grid alone won’t give consumers a reason to reduce their energy consumption. The Government is going to have to work hard to convince consumers of the benefits of reducing carbon emissions; and I have no doubt the main incentive will centre around cost savings.

At Navetas, we’re in the process of researching attitudes to energy saving and the initial results support this. While a massive 96% of us want to reduce our energy consumption, overwhelmingly this appears to be due to financial reasons, cited by 79% of Brits who want to make energy savings. In contrast, only 39% of us want to reduce our energy consumption to save the environment.

Our research shows that many of us are using energy-saving light bulbs, putting the heating on for less and washing at lower temperatures, but how can we be sure these actions are making a difference? Could we make even bigger savings if we focused our efforts elsewhere, for example by turning all our appliances off when we’re not using them or not filling the kettle every time we want a cuppa?

The answer to getting the British public on-side lies in technology and detailed information, at an appliance level. We want to know what uses the most energy in our home and will most likely be convinced to change our behaviour long—term when we can see the immediate impact it has on our energy bills. Disaggregation technology, working alongside smart meters, could well be the key to the Government getting the British public on side to reduce the nation’s carbon footprint.

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