Energy Efficiency as a drive towards sustainable development

It has long been established that the economic development of any nation is deeply associated to its energy consumption levels. Over the years however, the insistent increase in the demand for energy triggered a significant utilization of fossil fuels which adversely impacted the environment. This paper therefore, in line with the numerous efforts made around the world, including in South Africa, offers further insight to the significance of the efficient use
of energy and its conservation. Hence, it is pertinent to note that one unit of energy saved at the consumer end evades 2.5-3 times fresh capacity addition. Moreover, such savings via the efficient use of energy can be achieved at less than
one-fifth of the cost of new capacity generation. Considering that the per capita consumption in South Africa is likely to grow with growth in economy, thereby increasing the energy demand, the efficient use and conservation of energy has become even more crucial. In simple terms, per capita energy consumption is greatly indicative of the wellbeing of
human life. The dismal levels of energy inefficiency the world over, has impacted the atmosphere and caused climate changes. The resultant rise in global temperature affects the complex web of systems that permit life to flourish on
earth such as rainfall, wind patterns, ocean currents and distribution of plant and animal species. For these reasons, energy conservation programmes get carbon credit from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which emphasizes how energy efficiency is key to all enterprises, especially for energy intensive industries. As such, any successful energy conservation programme needs the commitment of top management in
giving equal importance in their corporate objective as manpower, raw material, production and sales. Furthermore, the paper posits that in actualizing the critical energy saving potential envisaged in South Africa, there should be efforts from entrepreneurs, State Agencies and the Government as “energy conservation is always a win-win situation for all stakeholders”.