Vampire Power Sucks Energy
Masses of anti petroleum environmentalists watch as anti frackers attack anti nuc-ers and pro renewable advocates scramble to bolster the measely 1.2% of the U.S. annual energy production they currently supply. The debates that occupy journalists and politicians focus on production. There is hardly a mention of a strategy that will unquestionably and substantially minimize the havoc wreaked upon ecosystems associated with all these systems. Where are the advocates of efficiency and prudence????
The following flow chart presents estimated US energy use in 2009. It shows that a whopping 58% of the total energy produced in the US is wasted due to inefficiencies, such as waste heat from power plants, vehicles, and light bulbs. In other words, the US has an energy efficiency of 42%. The vast majority of energy comes from petroleum (37%), natural gas (25%), and coal (21%). These disturbing numbers were assembled by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).
While it is important to note that total energy use has gradually declined, while solar, wind, and theothermal have increased, the scale of the inefficiencies is staggering. While driving less, heating less, cooling less are familiar conservation strategies, the eco artist Aimee Morgana asked me today if I have heard about VAMPIRE POWER? She explained that vampire power “is the real name of what it is called when devices suck power even when they are not being used! Many devices suck up to 10-30% of the power they normally use, even when they are turned OFF!!”
Chu Yun ‘s work “Constellation” confronts vampire power in a visual manner. Morgana provides the facts and the solution. She reported, “Anything that has a little light on it that stays on even when it is off or that uses a remote IS SUCKING POWER in a significant amount all the time, even if it is turned off!! it’s crazy but that is a standby function that has been built into devices for decades now. It is like the pilot light of a stove, it is always burning. the device is always semi-on, in standby mode to be activated by a remote, but the power use is significant. and most people don’t even know about this. The only way around it is to actually UNPLUG things when you aren’t using them. That goes for chargers ie for phones etc. too! It is pure waste. An easy way around this is to put all those devices on a power strip and then turn the power OFF when you’re not using the devices. (tvs, stereos, dvd players etc.) it may require some extension cords but will save money and energy. just eliminating vampire power would do something.”