The Path to a Sustainable Future

No matter your own opinion is on the matter, there is a positive, and ever increasing, global push towards a renewable future, in which we will no longer rely upon fossil fuels, but will make full use of renewable and sustainable resources. Many of you reading this may already be contributing positively in some small way, to this future, perhaps through the simple act of installing solar panels on your homes, or driving a hybrid or electric vehicle. 

Governments and utilities are trying to increase the percentage of renewable power available each year, and it is now increasingly common to see large scale solar power installations, and many of our landscapes are now dotted with wind turbines. The harnessing of solar, wind, and hydro power are undoubtedly the most visible, and well known, sources of renewable power, however they are many others, including the use of tidal and geothermal energy.

Whilst we look forward to a world in which renewable energy sources can provide 100% of our energy consumption needs, with the steady increase in global power consumption, and the fact that only about 28% of the global power is produced using renewable sources, it is unlikely that this will be achieved within our lifetime if our only strategy is the deployment of renewable power generation.  Unfortunately, delivering power from these renewables is burdened by issues of affordability, societal acceptability, and environmental impact, such as the disposal of end of life wind turbines or solar panels, and the disruption to the natural environment that hydro, geothermal, and tidal energy sources may have.

As such, I strongly believe that both public and private sectors globally should develop strategies towards attaining the goal of achieving 100% renewable energy based upon the adoption of the Energy Hierarchy, and aggressively pursuing Energy conservation and Energy Efficiency rather than just Renewables alone. This was part of the core message that the Institute of Mechanical Engineers proposed over 10 years ago, and yet most governments and private sectors are still not basing their actions on this simple structure.

In May 2020, The IMechE, published an updated policy statement in which they declared that “The Energy Hierarchy offers an effective framework to guide sustainable energy policy and decision-making….as it offers a common-sense, cost-effective, sustainable energy policy that aims to reduce energy use before seeking to meet remaining demand by the cleanest means possible.” (Engineers, 2020)

I believe the best path towards a more sustainable future is one in which we don't only ask "How can we power that device with renewable power?", but in which we ask "Does that device even need to be turned on?" and "Can we design a better device that uses even less power?" This would create an environment in which whilst we continue to pursue the implementation of an increasing number of renewable power generation sources, Energy conservation, and Energy Efficiency are brought to the forefront of the collective conciousness, allowing the demand on the grid to be reduced to a level that the renewable sources can achieve.