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Not sure where your idea that fighting climate change by conserving energy at home is token gesture. In the UK 4,000 GWh/day are used for heating during winter,
by simonbarker87 9y ago
Not sure where your idea that fighting climate change by conserving energy at home is token gesture. In the UK 4,000 GWh/day are used for heating during winter, about half of that will be domestic and so moving to something like Passivhaus would be a big step forward in both domestic energy bill reduction and green house gas emissions. To put that 4,000 GWh/day in context the UK hovers around 1,000 GWh/day for electricity and 1,500 GWh/day for transportation.
- andreyk 9y agoIt is a token gesture because there is little chance of it being done by enough people to make a difference. I base this off the documentary Before the Flood, in which DiCaprio says that in the early 2000s the big tactic was to promote home energy conservation but it amounts to very little and it has been realized that other more involved strategies are needed. This is stated explicitly early on, and it seems very plausible to me
- simonbarker87 9y agoI prefer the approach promoted by David Mackay: a combined strategy of energy use reductions in all sectors combined with diverse renewables and nuclear power sources. I agree that silly measures like turning off electrical items in stand by mode is like trying to loose weight by trimmeng your toe nails (you are technically lighter but not in anyway that matters) but to say the domestic energy reductions is pointless is a cop out to make people feel better about not trying.