Energy Conservation: A Crucial Process for All

By Okoko Chidozie Christian

chidochrisozonegold@yahoo.com; 090215179984

Energy plays the most important role in the economic growth,poverty eradication and security of any nation.

You might be wondering how simple it is in making conscious decision to use less energy.

But, when we lower our energy use; we slow down fossil fuel depletion thereby clean up our environment and save money for ourselves.

However, fossil fuel is a non-renewable source of energy that is created deep down with the earth’s surface over the course of millions of years.

Inevitably, we will run out of them at some point upon reliance as our primary source of energy.

These fossil fuelsnegatively impact the environment when we burn them creating an incredible amount of greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon-dioxide, methane, water vapour, nitrous oxide to mention but a few.

However, these gases such as carbon-dioxide, add up faster than the atmosphere can absorb, then prevents earth from maintaining a stable temperature properly.

For example, coal when burn, leads to carbon-dioxide emission that contributes to global warming, acidic rain, smog and soot which is limited to congenital disabilities, cancer and other severe health-related conditions.

As such, we must begin limiting our energy consumption because the faster we turn through these non-renewables sources; the more time we have to develop alternative energy solutions.

Today, uninterrupted energy supply is an important issue for all countries helping to supply a wide variety of critical loads, in situations of power outage or anomalies of the mains.

The applicability of such system can be found in distributed generation, micro grids and renewable energy systems.

Hence, the future economic growth of any country will crucially depend on the long-term availability of energy from sources that are affordable, efficient and environmentally friendly.

Meanwhile, it is difficult to grasp the amount of energy consumed worldwide.

To illustrate this, the global annual energy consumption corresponds to the energy released from the Hiroshima nuclear bomb energy every four seconds which is about 1.5 x 1013 joules of energy.

Energy remains an important factor in all sectors of any country’s economy;and enhances the provision of basic needs like cooked food, piped water, essential health care services, educational aids, communications, transportation and lots more.

Research reveals that security, climate change, and public health are closely related to energy, but inability to access these energieswill lead to poverty, deprivation and possibly economic decline.

Moreover, energy conservation is a crucial process that everyone should adopt because it helps protect the natural environment and greenhouse gas emission mitigation.

This could be achieved when you apply better ways of using the same amount of available energy to perform more useful work. It will also help in reducing the need for non-renewable source of energy.

Fortunately, we can minimizethese greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the use of energy in our homes.

This simple act of energy conservation can help slow global warming which allows for lower impacts on mental health, injuries and fatalities caused by severe weather; improve air quality and reduce air borne allergens leading to a reduced risk of cardiovascular and respiratory issues.

Conservation of energy can be defined as “the prevention of wasteful energy use”.

For example, turning off the light in room that are not currently occupied, using a programmable thermostat, walking instead of driving among others.

Since energy conservation entails reducing wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services, you can agree with me that improved efficiency through technological upgrade, improved operation and maintenance, changing user’s behaviour, monitoring appliances, and providing energy-saving recommendation among others will be a crucial process that everyone should adopt.

Energy crises as essential disruption in economy’s supply of energy resources has deepened in most developing economies due to the rapid exhaustion of non-renewable energy sources such as natural gas, oil and coal among others.

But, there are various reasons behindit such as increased population growth, no renewable resource options,increased in price of products, increased global warming, energy waste and unequal distribution of wealth to mention but a few.

Transition to renewable resources can be one of the best solutions to eliminate world’s reliance on non-renewable resources while improving overall conservation efforts.

According to the Law of Thermodynamics in Physics, “energy is neither created nor destroyed, but merely change forms.”

For example,changing potential energy to kinetic energy, chemical energy to mechanical energy and so forth.

Perhaps, it is easier to talk about what energy allows us to do.The story of energy never ends because energy can never be used up; it is said to be conserved.