When electricity became practical, methods of generation, transmission, and use were evidently in their infancy, and efficiency of application was clearly less important. Today, technologic efficiency comprises more than just energy efficiency. It concerns, e.g., availability of raw materials as well as desired forms of energy, overall cost of processing, yield, and affordable disposal of byproducts. Also, as older technologies have ripened and ever more new ones are being developed, minimizing energy waste becomes increasingly urgent for these reasons. One does not have to believe in the imminent end of the world to wish to eliminate the disadvantages of waste as far as practical.
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