it's still useful to remind ourselves of the benefits of simply using less energy as opposed to obsessing about the price. There are two paradigms of energy efficiency worldwide, Japan and in this story California.
Energy efficiency isn't sexy, but it's effective. "Efficiency is always the cheapest, cleanest, safest, quickest way to cut down on both global warming and pollution,"
One key reason for California's success is how differently utilities are incentivised to decouple profits from consumption. CA utilities are regualted using a revenue cap, as opposed to the more traditional price cap. A price cap incentivises suppliers to sell more energy to increase profits. A revenue cap incentivises utilitlies to maximise profits by replacing energy: their revenue is fixed, but if they reduce costs of supply, they pocket the difference.
California, in the 1970s, passed a law to prioritize energy efficiency. Since then, annual average per capita consumption in the United States has risen to 12,000 kilowatt hours from 8,000 kilowatt hours, but consumption in California has remained flat, at 7,000 kilowatt hours
Interesting aside in this story is the role of white roofs:
White roofs reduce the need for air conditioning, and scientists have recently discovered that they "actually cool the world directly," Rosenfeld said. Solar radiation bounces off a white roof back into space, while a dark roof traps heat and warms the planet. "Every 1,000 square feet of white roof instead of colored roof is equivalent to avoiding the emissions of 10 tons of CO2 annually," he said.
McMahon, at Lawrence Berkeley, said: "We've done some studies for Los Angeles showing that having white roofs and white pavement could have enormous benefits" in energy savings, smog reduction and general health improvement.
Something to consider even here in the UK, where cooling costs for buildings are a lot higher than most people think, up to a third of an SME energy budget. Cooling is more likely to use electricity, although gas powered AC is available, and electricity is far more expensive.
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