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“ADOPTING LED IN PLACE OF INCANDESCENT LIGHTING WOULD REDUCE ENERGY CONSUMPTION BY A MASSIVE 53 PER CENT AND CO2 EMISSIONS BY 1,400 MEGATONS BY 2030 ”By adding a focus on social equity and inclusiveness, we can enter an age where the socio-economic model becomes about Sustainalism, building on the foundations laid by capitalism and socialism, but taking the broader view which the challenges of today and tomorrow demand of us. No-one is unaware of the need for our products and processes to become more energy efficient and yet, often due to a focus on the short term, there remains a reluctance to make the transitions required. To arrive at a carbon neutral world by 2050, we need to drive overall energy efficiency improvements of at least 3 per cent per year. ‘We’ – industry, transport, public infrastructure, homes – must at least double the rate of energy efficiency improvement, primarily by accelerating infrastructure renovation to around 3 per cent per year. In parallel with this we also need to be moving to clean energy sources at a rate that also equates to 3 per cent of our energy mix per year.Critically, the current rate of energy efficiency improvement hovers at around 1.5 per cent per year. At the same time, demand for energy continues to rise at about 3 per cent per year driven by population growth, increased prosperity and mobility. Simply doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvement would reduce global energy costs by more than US$2 trillion by 2030, slash the average household energy bill by a third, and create more than six million jobs by the end of this decade. There are two main elements required to double the rate of energy efficiency improvement. The first is accelerating the renovation of existing infrastructure in developed countries. Secondly, there needs to be a focus on helping developing countries leapfrog to clean technologies such as solar-LED and combine these with new business models. It is a sad fact that many of the countries which have suffered the most from climate change have been least responsible for creating it. It is vital that developing countries do not follow the same destructive phases that the richer nations of the world have been through.When speaking about energy, we often talk about individual technologies and their potential in their respective silos. In reality, we must pursue them all. Energy efficiency, renewable energy and carbon engineering are all needed. Only by enacting all of them in unison will we be able to achieve the ultimate goal of carbon neutrality in the coming 40 to 50 years. The International Energy Agency projects that energy efficiency needs to do over half of this job. One could say that by combining energy efficiency and renewable energy we can decarbonise society twice as fast and twice as cost-effectively.The fact is that many of the technologies we need already exist. All that is required is to take a longer-term view and use them. LED lighting is a perfect example. LED street lighting uses at least 40 per cent less energy than conventional lighting and has been around for years, and yet we still cling to outdated and inefficient technology. That broader view of Sustainalism will take us:FROM TOMore is better Better is bestLowest initial cost Least lifecycle costOpen product chains Closed systems / cyclesInvoicing products / hardware Leasing / financingProduct focus Service focusGDP metrics Quality of life metricsAbove: LED-lit Dragon Bridge in Da NangINDUSTRY INTRODUCTION 019