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The article is very interesting, but here's a point not discussed in the article: an old refrigerator is terrible for the environment! Its energy efficiency is
by philistine 5y ago
The article is very interesting, but here's a point not discussed in the article: an old refrigerator is terrible for the environment! Its energy efficiency is low, and it is dangerous for the ozone layer: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2005/dec/08/science.climatechange https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2005/dec/08/science....
That old car must not have a catalytic converter either, a godsend for our environment.
Keeping old things around is good for the environment. Keeping an old fridge and car from the 60s, I'm not so sure.
- quantified 5y agoThat’s an interesting point about pretty much anything that converts energy into work: fuel efficiency and environmental safety aspects evolve over time. And yet you can’t really predict the right end-of-life for these things, either. No planned obsolescence or failure sounds like respect for the consumer. I wonder how well their light bulbs held up.
- me_me_me 5y ago> I wonder how well their light bulbs held up. Kind of ironic (intentional) that you brought up lightbulbs since the lightbulbs are the first known syndicate to establish and enforce planned obsolescence.
- quantified 5y agoIt was intentional. Glad you recognized them!
- skzv 5y agoRegarding poor energy efficiency specifically: it has been observed than gains in efficiency of energy consumption actually cause further increases in energy consumption, rather than decreases, which is counterintuitive: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox
- philistine 5y agoYeah but refrigerators have been fundamentally changed to prevent holes in the ozone layer. That's not counterintuitive.
- sedatk 5y agoSo, a refrigerator consumed 500kWh/year in 2010, compared to 2000kWh/year in 1972[1]. By 1944, 85% of households in USA already owned a refrigerator[2]. Refrigerator volume has also remained almost constant in the last 50 years. I don't think the paradox holds up in the case of refrigerators. ______________ [1] https://appliance-standards.org/blog/how-your-refrigerator-has-kept-its-cool-over-40-years-efficiency-improvements https://appliance-standards.org/blog/how-your-refrigerator-h... [2] https://bigchill.com/inspiration/blog/refrigerators-through-the-decades https://bigchill.com/inspiration/blog/refrigerators-through-...
- skzv 5y agoResource consumption can increase in other ways. For example, since my refrigerator uses less electricity now, I might buy another computer, or TV, or second refrigerator...