Powering Down - The 80% Solution

By Scott McKenzie

This article was first published in the January 2010 issue of the Peace and Environment News (PEN). Scott McKenzie is a computer engineer and passionate environmentalist who lives in Old Ottawa East with his wife and 2 daughters. The family's goal is to reduce their energy usage by 80% over 10 years and they have already managed to cut it in half over the past 3 years.

In the lead up to the climate change conference in Copenhagan, we heard a lot about reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020 and by 80% by 2050, but most people don’t know what those numbers mean.  This article outlines not only what these kind of reductions mean in terms of impacts on your lifestyle, but also show that it is possible for you to achieve an 80% reduction in your household energy consumption over time by making sustainable choices in what you buy and how you live.

Before you start, you need to measure your current greenhouse gas emissions because you won’t know if you are actually reducing if you don’t measure your usage to begin with.  Greenhouse gas emissions are due to our direct and indirect use of energy.  I have included a Simple Greenhouse Gas Calculator for the major household emission sources here, but there are also online calculators available such as zerofootprint (which even includes local data for major Canadian cities).

Once you have measured your greenhouse gas emissions, you need to formulate a household plan to power-down your energy usage over a twenty year period.  The first step is to reduce your energy use by 25% through simple low-to-no-cost energy conservation techniques that will also save you money.  The second step is to invest in energy efficiency to cut your usage (and bills) in half.  The third step is to change to a more sustainable lifestyle over time to get to an 80% reduction.

According to Statistics Canada, the average Canadian household is responsible for 27,100 kg of CO2 emissions due to the choices they make in their home, for their transportation, for their food and for all the rest of the things they buy, use and throw out.  Household expenditures account for about half of all greenhouse gas emissions in Canada (the remainder are due to product exports and government usage) so your changes do make a difference.

The average household has 2.6 people living in a 149 square meter home driving 20,000 km per year, flying 12,500 km per year and generating 1000 kg of garbage.  Since 1990 all of these numbers have increased except the average number of people per home which has declined.  This means we have fewer people living in larger homes generating more waste while driving and flying more.

Like many people, I grew up in a 1500 square foot home with 7 people, 1.5 bathrooms and 1 car.  I now live in a 1900 square foot home with 4 people, 3.5 bathrooms and 2 cars.  When I did the calculations I found our household was generating about 38,000 kg of CO2 from the major sources of greenhouse gases that we could measure.  This led me to look for ways to reduce my energy consumption.  I have now formulated a long term power-down plan to reduce my greenhouse gas emissions by 80% and am half way there.

You don’t have to wait for governments to start making changes.  Start with simple ways to reduce your energy usage and save money, then invest the savings in energy efficiency and finally make the lifestyle changes needed to live more sustainably.

Step 1: Get Energy Smart! - reduce your carbon footprint by 25% and save money.

Step 2: Invest in energy efficiency to cut your usage in half.

Step 3: Change Your Lifestyle For an 80% Reduction.

Conclusion

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