How to Use Energy Better and Reduce Energy Loss- Some Examples

08/26/2010

Whether buying a vehicle, a house or food, consumers now have access to products and services that are less energy-intensive and that meet their needs perfectly in all areas of daily life.

More and More Energy-Friendly Cars

If you need to buy a new car, it might be better to buy a light sedan than a powerful SUV! The heavier the car, the more fuel it consumes.

Another option is the hybrid car, which consumes and pollutes less because it has two engines- an electric engine starts the car and a gasoline engine takes over once the vehicle's speed exceeds 25 km/h. Each time you slow down, kinetic energy from the vehicle's movement is recovered. Converted to electricity, this energy supplies the first engine.

Construction- Use Less Energy with High Performance Materials

Nowadays, we know how to build passive houses that produce all the energy they need. Positive energy houses go one step further by producing more energy than they use!

Compared to standard buildings, these houses lose much less heat through the roof, walls and windows. What they have in common is excellent insulation, thanks to high-performance materials.

Therefore when building a home, it is better to use construction and insulation materials with good energy performance:

   • Wood is an insulating material and has low thermal inertia (i.e. its capacity to store and conduct heat). Because of this, a wood house heats up quickly in winter, which saves energy, but it does not retain heat for very long. That is why timber used in construction is always used with additional insulating material.

   • With hollow clay bricks and cellular concrete blocks, using an insulating material isn't necessary. They have air-filled holes that prevent the walls from cooling down too quickly, thus rooms require less heating.

   • Plastic is an excellent insulating material because of its very low thermal conductivity (i.e. its capacity to conduct heat). It has extremely high performance levels- 1 cm of plastic has the same insulating capacity as 4 cm of lumber or 22 cm of brick!³

Play the game “My house for my future” to findout how the houses of tomorrow will help save and even produce energy.

Food Products- Redesigning Packaging to Reduce Waste

At the supermarket, you can choose products with packaging designed to help save energy.

   • Plastic packaging is much lighter than glass containers- this means that it less fuel is needed to deliver goods to the consumer.

   • Plastic bags last longer than paper bags because they are more durable. Since they can be reused, you can need fewer of them and thus save the energy that would otherwise have been spent manufacturing new bags.

  • Plastic packaging is an effective way of protecting food- a cucumber packaged in plastic film keeps for 11 days longer than an unpackaged cucumber! In the supermarket, loose fruit and vegetables generate 26% more waste than products prepackaged in plastic⁴. This wastage also extends to the energy spent producing the fruit and vegetables that will never be eaten and handling the resulting waste. By opting for prepackaged fruit and vegetables, you can help reduce this wastage.

[1] Source: Total, 2009.
[2] Source: Fédération de la Plasturgie, France.
[3] Source: Total, 2009.
[4] Source: Total, 2009.