Comment 19
Why should we go green?
about ‘green’ things. W
It’s timely, as the domestic renewable heat incentive (RHI) has just been launched – it’s certainly been a long time coming. And alongside the Green Deal, ECO and feed-in tariffs, householders now have a veritable plethora of incentives to make their properties more energy efficient – if only they could fathom the difference between one scheme and another. The government’s investment in encouraging people – whether in the domestic context or otherwise – to become more energy efficient is certainly laudable, and should be supported.
But equally, government needs to understand that people are, well, people. And diluting a great idea such as the Green Deal with complexities, uncertainties and confusion is not going to make the family next door nor the owners of the local corner shop change their ways. These people need to see clearly and simply what their
ith our Green Issue included with this month’s magazine, it’s time to talk
outlay is, and what the effect will be on their cash flow and bottom line, both now and in the future. Schemes that are not easy to understand are often treated with suspicion these days, in case there are extra costs, or disclaimers hidden in the small print.
The thing is, people are selfish – it’s in our nature. And saving energy, saving the environment and saving the planet are goodly things that we should all do, so long as it doesn’t cost us anything, and doesn’t interfere with our basic right to watch junk TV in a perfectly climate-controlled living room with a chilled drink and a hot muffin while the phone and laptop charge in the corner.
It’s tough to change these kinds of attitudes, to ask people to become unselfish and develop more of a social conscience, and unclear or mixed messages from authority figures don’t help.
Ultimately, there is only one reason that people should develop a social conscience: the human population is growing at a phenomenal rate.
It took over 8000 years for the population to get to one billion. We are now over seven billion. Three of those billions appeared in just the last forty years – at this rate, sooner or later the planet will not be able to sustain the number of people on it. Our industry is not a naturally environmentally friendly one, but as the population increases (and the temperature, according to boffins), it will become an ever more critical one as need for cooling grows. And what will help, is to lessen the burden on our resources and maximise what we do use.
Therefore, every improvement in energy efficiency is a step in the right direction and every effort must be made to continue the momentum of innovation.
Lynn Sencicle Editor
Fujitsu Air Conditioning | Comfort is our passion
www.fgeurofred.co.uk
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