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Brainstorm |
"Energy Conservation - The Need of the Hour" |
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- Prachi Vats
Career Forum Ltd.
“Energy conservation: The need of hour” is an untenable argument and there has been a lot of brouhaha among the environmentalists and the consumers of energy. Energy crisis is the major concern today, be it the newspapers, journals, the editorials or the success of the summits. Let us look at this debate more holistically. Individuals and organizations that are direct consumers of energy may want to conserve energy in order to reduce energy costs and promote economic security. Industrial and commercial users may want to increase efficiency and thus maximize profit.
This is the “Tug of war” and will always remain and that is clear from the fact that the recent Copenhagen Summit ended in a fiasco and that was ensued by a scrutiny of the reports from IPCC. But the fact still remains the same that climate change and energy conservation will have serious repercussions if not taken care of. Energy conservation is a very important part of climate change. Our concern should be to move it towards a more sustainable development picture. Energy conservation facilitates the replacement of non-renewable resources with renewable energy. It is often the most economical solution to energy shortages, and is a more environmentally benign alternative to increased energy production. The shift towards industrialization and sustained economy, the paradox it is, has led to the opposite direction. We sweep the forests away to build industries, to generate income and better lifestyle but the end result lead to pollution, increasing sea levels, debates between the developed and developing nations on who did the damage, exodus of the population, their impending survival strife and the list becomes unending. It affected not only the environment but the basic necessities of people as well. So the key word is sustainable so that the damage done today does not become a bane for the future generation.
Due to the limited resources and infinite needs, it is important to conserve the current source of energy so that it does not impact the environment and the people who live in it. We count the daily calories we consume but not the carbon emission to the environment. We care that a burger will add over a hundred calories to our system but not how we waste energy by leaving the lights on. It is the high time we see it before the so called fracas reports come to reality and it would be too late to undo the damage done today.
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