ABSTRACT
People used to talk about ‘saving energy’. The phrase had a moralistic connotation. Father would admonish his children to switch off lights when leaving a room and never to let motors or appliances run when not needed. After all, besides costing money, wastefulness was a sin. When a demand for environmental protection became widespread, the reaction on the part of governments, electric power suppliers and some environmental leaders was not particularly imaginative: You (childish and demanding folks) can get as much environmental protection as you want if you are prepared to reduce your demands radically. The simplistic notion of saving energy by voluntarily making do with less allowed leaders to avoid really grappling with the energy issue in a creative way.
