Solar Energy Vs Waste

Solar energy can offset a fair bit of wasted energy. Whether that be for saving electricity or for heating hot water, the difference can be substantial.

And let's face it, we waste energy all the time. I do it. You do it. We don't even realise we are doing it half the time. Or we choose not to bother.

To highlight this fact, a survey was recently commissioned about the energy habits of 5,000 Europeans which found that 71 per cent of UK consumers leave devices on standby at least once a week. This costs the average household £37 a year.

And 65 per cent leave their mobile phone chargers plugged in at least once a week - almost three times as often as Germans.

This on its own wastes more than £60 million ($120 million) - enough to supply 66,000 homes - and is responsible for 250,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.

Yikes! That's a lot. And that's just in the UK, a relatively small country. I must admit, it's something I used to do myself. Not any more though!

I now own a great little solar battery charger that both cuts down my electricity bill and reduces my carbon footprint.

And its heartening to see companys such as Nokia doing their bit as well. A nokia phone charger now sends alerts, telling you when your phone is fully charged.

Carbon dioxide

UK households also use £1.9 billion worth of electricity every year on lighting. Yet more than 60 per cent of us forget to switch lights off when leaving the room.

However Britons believe that there are things which could be done to help curb their energy habits which will help in preventing global warming.

Over half of those surveyed said they would support the government introducing ‘environmental health’ warnings on products that are not energy efficient and cause a high level of carbon dioxide emissions.

Here are some devices that save energy.

The government’s long-awaited energy review, will signal a clampdown on the wasting of energy in the home with more use of alternative energy, such as wind turbines and solar energy.

Figures contained in the review show that gadgets left unnecessarily on standby or connected to chargers squander electricity worth £740m each year and are responsible for 4m tonnes of excess carbon dioxide emissions each year.

The government has rejected one proposal, from the energy company Scottish Power, that standby buttons on existing electrical products be removed or disabled. But it will work with manufacturers to phase out standby buttons from new products.

The government will also build on the existing labelling system for energy-efficient fridges, washing machines and cookers, and could force manufacturers to withdraw the least efficient products from the market.

And the government need to promote such initiatives as DIY solar power systems like they do in other countries.

Click on our solar power gadgets for great gift ideas.

For some great information on how to reduce your energy wastage go to helpful home tips to save energy.

For more information on how to save energy go to National Energy Foundation or The Association for the Conservation of Energy

To find out more technical information go to what is solar energy.

To return to our solar energy home page.