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From iPhones, laptops, tablets, to apple watches – technology has become an integral part of our daily lives, to the point where many of us can no longer envision a world without it.
While technology has helped to simplify parts of our lives, such as by paying an electricity bill online or navigating our way through a tiny village on a road trip with a GPS – but it has also resulted in a surge of power usage like never before.
Is it possible for our newfound increase in power usage to compromise our climate goals?
In this article, we’ll explain what power usage is, why it has increased in recent years, how it could impact our climate goals, and potential solutions.
Power usage, otherwise known as power consumption, refers to the amount of energy consumed by a process, system, or even an entire company or society.
💡 Power usage is something that we all contribute to everyday whether we realise it or not, such as via the need to charge our laptops to work remotely or when we turn on the lights in the kitchen.
In today’s world, power usage is more imperative than ever before seeing as we have incorporated the use of digital devices and systems into our everyday lives – such as by signing an iPad for your receipt at a restaurant or touch-screen machines to purchase tickets at the metro.
Some additional examples of power usage include:
👉 Remember, there are miscellaneous items that could also contribute to an increase in power usage – such as medical equipment, electric tools for construction, and specialised kitchen appliances. This goes to show how an increase in power usage can occur anywhere from our everyday household appliances to industrial machinery.
There are several reasons as to why our power usage has increased in recent years, but the two main culprits to our sudden skyrocketing power consumption include extreme changes in the weather and our newfound values in consumerism.
Think about it: back in the 90s, if you had spare time as a kid – the only options to spend your free time involving power consumption included watching TV, calling a friend, or playing a video game. It wasn’t as easy to scroll on your phone endlessly or have hundreds of streaming options to choose from. We used to spend more time with people in person, and it wasn’t as easy to get trapped into the pigeon hole many social apps are successfully able to accomplish in the present day.
💡 In fact, the United States alone generated 1,200% more electricity in 2021 compared to 1950, as the demand for electricity has surged in the past two decades – which depicts the drastic increase in supply and demand necessary to accommodate our growing power usage.
Besides our newfound dependency on digital devices, climate change itself is one of the reasons for our increase in power usage – as drastic cold fronts and heat waves have resulted in an increase in the use of central heating and cooling systems.
Here are some other reasons why our power usage has increased in recent years:
👉 Ultimately, our power usage has increased as a result of the rise of technology, changing cultural circumstances, and dramatic shifts in weather patterns.
In a sense, our increase in power usage is good as it motivates us to seek the use of new renewable energy sources or spur innovation to develop new pieces of technology to reduce energy consumption.
Here are some of the other ways in which our increase in power usage has proven beneficial to society:
👉 However, even though the search for new ways to utilise clean-energy can be help to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and reduce our carbon footprint – but could deter countries such as the U.S. from achieving their goals to combat climate change.
The increase in power usage is bad for the environment because countries such as the U.S. do not have the time or resources to set-up renewable energy systems quickly enough to feed the incessantly increasing demand of energy.
As a result, many states in the U.S. are seeking to burn power plants – and the Biden administration continues to approve of new gas-fired plants in attempts to meet the raging demand for power.
For instance, southern states such as Tennessee, Virgina, Georgia, and North and South Carolina are planning to build new power plants which make use of natural gas, for the next 15 years to feed the current power usage demand. This alone is concerning, considering how nuclear energy and the clean-energy of power plants alone remains debatable.
In addition to this, it can take five years to link renewable energy projects up to the current grid – and a full 10 years to build the power lines these various renewable energy sources may require to effectively help reduce the amount of fossil fuels currently used. As the demand for electricity in the United States is expected to grow by 38,000 megawatts over the next five years, that would mean that the projects necessary to connect these power lines would need to be started today.
👉 Ultimately, the panic to feed the rising demand for power will continue to send several states and possibly even the presidential administration into a frenzy – as desperate measures and plans will be implemented and executed to satisfy the growing demand for power usage, even if it deters us from reaching previously set environmental goals.
While our increase in power usage has helped us to recognise the importance of renewable energy, it’s next to impossible for the world to shift to the use of these systems in the midst of the rising demand for power, making our increase in power consumption ultimately bad for the environment.
Some of the ways we can reduce our power consumption both at home and in the workplace include:
💡 Did you know that even sustainable solutions for transportation such as Electric Vehicles (EVs) could account for 10% of power usage by 2035.
Overall, even though our increase in power usage has motivated us to find new ways to feed the growing demand for electricity – it is important to remember that much of our newfound dependence on power has spurred as a direct result of innovation. Our increase in power usage has the potential to prevent us from achieving our current climate goals, but it could also be the very thing that motivates us to do better in the fight against climate change.
If reading this article on our increase in power usage and its effect on the environment has made you interested in reducing your carbon emissions to further fight against climate change – Greenly can help you!
At Greenly we can help you to assess your company’s carbon footprint, and then give you the tools you need to cut down on emissions. We offer a free demo for you to better understand our platform and all that it has to offer – including assistance with boosting supplier engagement, personalised assistance, and new ways to involve your employees.
Click here to learn more about Greenly and how we can help you reduce your carbon footprint.
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