PUTTING ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN A SUSTAINABILITY CONTEXT: THE COLD FACTS ABOUT REFRIGERATORS

摘要

While celebrating accomplishments that appear to move society in a more sustainable direction, we sometimes overlook the magnitude of the effort that will be required to become truly sustainable. This message rings true when analysts applaud the not insignificant gains in energy efficiency that have taken place in the developed world, particularly the United States, over the past few decades. Clearly, industries have been successful in wringing greater energy output from a given unit of resource input across a number of key technologies. Yet the cumulative impact of these efficiencies has brought the United States no closer to a transition to sustainability.