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........ published in NEWSLETTER # 70

DEVELOPMENT WITH SUSTAINABLE USE OF ELECTRICITY
By Dr. J.S. Norgard, Technical University of Denmark (Denmark)

As a research field electricity savings is rather young. The research of electricity savings is not just another branch of the electricity field, but very interdiciplinary, involving sociology, thermodynamics, political sciences, economics, engineering, etc. Since a low electricity consumption seems a vital, or at least a desirable, component in an environmentally sustainable development, energy savings is attracting increased interest, from the purely technical potentials to the needs for more fundamental priority changes in our societies as well as our daily lives.

A NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "Development with Sustainable Use of Electricity" was held on 17-21 June 1996 in Poland as the third NATO ARW on the subject of electricity saving. Some of the leading researchers in that field contributed. Their contributions are edited in the proceedings of the same name (NATO ASI SERIES 3-56). Several chapters of this book are devoted to illustrate how efficient technologies for the end-users can save much more than half of the electricity by rethinking the electricity consuming systems when designing them. Examples are lighting systems, ventilation systems, electric motor drive systems, household appliances, and electronic equipment. Other chapters deal with the political barriers and the necessary regulations of the markets in order to ensure the implementation of these saving options. Suggested measures include labelling, minimum efficiency standards, integrated resource planning and least cost planning. In most cases the savings are cost-effective even from a conventional economics point of view, and they are furthermore environmentally superior to any electricity supply options. Status for electricity savings in the European Union and in other countries are outlined in a few chapters, demonstrating a substantial diversity as well as general ignorance of this part of environmental and economic policy.

This book can be of benefit to anyone working on environmental issues in general and for those in electricity savings in particular, experienced as well as beginners. It may also be useful as a reference book for Master's and Doctoral students.
Reference books: E149, E261, 3-56

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