Pulling the plug and other challenges in green living

Go back about 30 years, says Terry Collins, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority of New Zealand. Think about the way you lived:

"Few houses had dishwashers or microwaves. The refrigerator was much smaller. There was one television in the common room and this room was lit with one light bulb.

"Now you have a television in every room and those televisions are flat and twice the size of the old one. They also sit alongside surround sound speakers, a Blu-ray player and Play Station... The television uses as much power as four refrigerators and - since the whole experience now requires plugging in several things at once - you just leave them all on, all the time. So we've replaced a relatively modest energy using device with an energy-guzzling device... which essentially does the same thing it did 30 years ago. Ostensibly, we've improved the quality of our lives because technology helps us to save time... but then we use our spare time to use more technology."

This week, experts from Governments and industry from across the APEC region are discussing energy. At the end of 2009, APEC Leaders distinguished anthropogenic climate change as "one of the biggest global challenges [which] will impact each of our economies." Aside from tasking members with reducing energy intensity - by 25 percent by 2030 - they promised to review progress toward this goal at their next meeting in 2010.

Economies have wasted no time. Aside from having received such pointed direction, energy efficiency cross-cuts a number of APEC goals, from sustainable economic growth to human security. "Energy is a limited resource," says Collins. "It can not last forever and a shortage of energy would become a human security issue."

With the distant possibility of global shortage on one hand and the imminent appeal of flat screens and surround sound on the other, convincing the wider public to "go green" is a tough sell. In fact, one of the greatest challenges to governments is that the majority wants to be environmentally responsible... but only to the extent that it is comfortable. Consumers want choices; but they choose the options that do not impinge on their lives. And even if the results are beneficial, they do not want change to be imposed upon them.

Yet, says Collins, it is at household level that the real difference can be made. That's where small lifestyle changes can lead to big energy savings. And experience points to a range of opportunities for governments to encourage household-level energy efficiency through policy:

• Information - When consumers have access to information, they are able to make better and more energy-efficient choices. Just like the labels on food products to indicate nutritional value, electronic products can be fitted with energy efficiency labels. In some economies, for example, cars are labelled to indicate how many litres of fuel will be required to drive 100km and the projected cost of fuel for an entire year. In other economies, electronic goods are rated for their efficiency with a star system and experience indicates that consumers incorporate this sort of information in their decision-making process.

• Private sector investment - Regulating product standards actually reduces risk to manufacturers, offering a level of marketing predictability. Once private companies have an idea of "the way things are going to be in the future," they are more confident and likely to invest research and development dollars to ensure that their own products are compatible or even surpass minimum requirements. In this respect, governments can indirectly enlist the help of the private sector to develop new energy efficient technologies and to promote them to the public.

• Technology as a driver of change - Governments have a role to play in developing new technologies while also respecting public ability to make choices. As an example of things to come in the future, many governments are currently developing "smart meters" which enable households to save money and conserve energy by using water or heat at off-peak times.

According to Collins, many people feel that once an electronic product has been made more energy efficient, the task is "complete." But this is not the case, he says: "Can you imagine a world in which all energy is free, where there is no possibility that it will never run out?"

Until then, governments grapple with energy issues, finding better, cheaper, more efficient ways to do more but use less. As a means to track progress and also to identify and share best practices with other economies, APEC has established the Peer Review on Energy Efficiency (PREE).

Economies are invited to submit to a voluntary assessment by a team of experts from other member economies. A report is then circulated among APEC's Energy Working Group members for discussion and, after their approval, the Review Report becomes official. New Zealand was the first economy to volunteer for assessment in 2009, followed by Chile and Viet Nam, respectively.

Chinese Taipei and Peru have volunteered for review in 2010.

These assessments are publicly available and may be found online at: http://www.ieej.or.jp/aperc/PREE.html