Hrvatski
Greenhouse gases are produced as a by-product of the use of fossil fuels to supply light and heat, produce food, manufacture products, and transport people and goods. These gases congregate in the upper atmosphere and result in global warming through the absorption of sunlight reflected from the earth’s surface. At the 21st meeting of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris, it was agreed to limit the average increase in global temperature to 2°C.
The easiest way of reducing energy consumption is to use it more efficiently. The most visible example of increased energy efficiency has been that of lighting where over a period of 30 years, the efficiency of light bulbs has increased by changing from incandescent filament lamps to compact fluorescent lamps and most recently light emitting diodes (LED). This measure has been successful because no change in usage is required and the most inefficient lamps (incandescent) can no longer be sold [2]. The 80% increase in efficiency has resulted in a 10% electricity saving per household or 75 TWh across the European Union (EU). In addition the life of these lamps has increased by a factor of 10 from 1,000 hours to 10,000 hours thus saving energy on manufacture and reducing the amount of waste products.
Increasing energy efficiency has generally multiple benefits which include not only saving energy, but also reducing carbon emissions and reducing the demand on hydrocarbon resources and electricity supplies. It therefore needs to be encouraged and relevant authorities should promote strategies and policies which will encourage their uptake.
