How To Best Optimize Energy Consumption

As technology thrives at a rapid pace, the need to optimize energy consumption of humanity is also rapidly rising. With climate change concerns on the one hand, and pollution related health risks of humanity on the other hand, science is also trying to solve the problems it is creating at the same time. As our needs grow, it could be naïve to think that we could reduce our energy consumption. But what we could do is optimize our energy consumption such that energy losses and misuse are minimized (ideally eliminated). How do we then best optimize our energy consumption as a species? This article tries to explore answers to this question.

This essay is supported by Generatebg

Optimized Energy Harnessing

Energy is converted from one form into another form. We typically harness a form of energy that is abundantly available and convert it into a form that is not so abundant, and is more suitable for our needs. When we get our energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar, we are ethically addressing the problem of optimizing energy consumption. In such cases, we are reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But some sources of energy are better than the others for particular needs. How do we optimize there?

The answer is to analyze and choose the right technology for our particular purpose. Each scenario has to be weighed in, and the best complementary solutions have to be implemented. Consider an office building that requires cooling inside, and consumes energy to run machinery and computers inside, which produce heat by their operation. If transparent solar panels could be installed to harness solar energy during the day, passive cooling is achieved, and these solar panels convert the solar energy into chemical / electrical energy for later use. In the same building wind-energy-harnessing equipment could be installed for purposes of energy harnessing during the night. The analysis would be typically more complicated than that, but such a thought process gives you the rough picture of how to approach the problem.

Optimized Energy Storage

The ability to store energy is the one of the keys to optimizing energy consumption. Without storage, we are stuck to using the energy sources around us as they are available. For example, trees cannot be used for heating at night, sunlight cannot be used for electrical generation at night, etc. However, with energy storage, these energy sources can be used to meet our energy demand at all times. We typically accomplish such energy storage using technologies such as turbines, flywheels, and batteries. So, how do we optimize energy storage?

Again, here, optimized energy storage is ensured by using the right technology for the right purpose. Flywheels are best suited for high-speed energy storage needs. Batteries are best suited for low speed, high power solutions. Sometimes it is advantageous to use both flywheels and batteries together to form a hybrid system that has the advantages of both. Flywheels are well known to be capable of providing up to large energy outputs over a short duration of time. Knowing this, it is best to use flywheels in situations such as powering heavy machinery, electric trains, etc.

Any regulated industry does this kind of analysis rather intensively these days. The area where there is room for improvement is the unregulated industries. If laws and regulations can be precisely designed to ensure optimized energy storage via such robust analyses, it would greatly improve the impact of optimized energy storage.

Optimized Energy Distribution

Once we harness the energy, store the energy, and convert the energy into the desired form, the last step is distribution of that energy where it is needed. This distribution could be done through wired or wireless means. Wireless options include microwave beams and radio waves. Wired distribution involves cables and wires that carry electrical current from one point to another point, or cables that carry optical signals inside fiber optic cables between two points. One of the biggest concerns today is how to achieve optimized energy distribution between large geographical regions.

Scientists and corporations are hard at work at solving such complex problems for capitalistic as well as energy-efficiency reasons. This lack of a conflict in interest is likely to bring in quick solutions to these problems.

Optimized Energy Intake

The term ‘energy intake’ could refer to any form of energy consumption, not just electricity or other forms of power. It could even refer to food intake because food can provide stored chemical potential energy that our bodies can use later on for various tasks. It could also refer to the money we spend on fashionable clothes, ornaments, etc. The animal farm industry and the fashion industry are ranked among the top most contributors of greenhouse gas-emissions into the atmosphere. This means that there is a lot of room for optimization in these areas. If we as human beings get together and evaluate our food, clothing and other materialistic needs optimally, we could perhaps make great progress with optimized energy intake.

Conclusion

Optimizing energy consumption involves a thorough description of all the processes involved from harnessing an energy source, storing it into a useful form, then distributing it, and finally intake systems for energy. Once the complete system is defined, robust analyses can be conducted to optimize each subsystem for minimal energy wastage. The beauty of such an approach is that it can be applied to both macro- as well micro-scales of systems. A home owner can apply the same approach to his home and family as can a government to it various states. The good news about optimizing energy consumption is that scalable solutions are possible.

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Further reading that might interest you: 5 Reasons Why Nuclear Power Is The Future and How to Benefit From Open Source Software.