Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
better able to defend themselves against extreme weather conditions that
afflict them. But there are additional, specific reasons for inertia when it
comes to changing energy systems.
Slow turnover
The longevity of energy-hungry commodities and buildings provides few
opportunities for replacement with more efficient equipment or build-
ings. According to some averages worked out by the International Energy
Agency, housing stocks last anywhere between 40 and 400 years, industri-
al buildings between 10 and 150 years, large hydropower plants between
60 and 120 years, coal-fired plants from 40 to 60 years, nuclear reactors
over 40 years, and power grids and gas pipelines around 40 years. At the
top end of the product range are aircraft, the design of which can remain
unchanged for more than fifty years (from first studies on the drawing
board to the last plane coming off the production line).
According to the UK's Energy Saving Trust, the average life of a fridge
is 12.8 years, and that of a freezer between 15 and 17 years. The only elec-
trical item we replace very often is Thomas Edison's incandescent (and
inefficient, as well as short-lived) light bulb. Of course, sometimes there
arises either the necessity to accelerate this natural cycle of replacement,
as in the case of repairing damage after a war, or the opportunity to accel-
erate it, as in the case of the world-wide economic recession of 2008-09.
Habits and lifestyle
Reluctance to change personal behaviour is another factor. Some energy-
saving measures do not require any behavioural change. Installing a more
efficient boiler or buying a hybrid (part-electric, part-petrol) car does
not involve living in a colder house or travelling less. Turning the heating
thermostat down in winter or the air-conditioning thermostat up in sum-
mer merely requires the minor sacrifice of adding or subtracting a layer of
clothing. But any restriction on personal travel tends to be regarded as a
major sacrifice. This is why people react with panic to any form of petrol
rationing or shortages.
Another aspect of the mobility revolution is air travel, which budget air-
lines have made affordable to many people. One example of the particular
store that even environmentalists set on maintaining their mobility was
brought to light by a 2007 survey by the British Market Research Bureau.
This surveyed nearly fifty thousand people, over two years, by asking
