Energy saving gestures 'do not make a difference' - 23/12/2010
Coaxing cheap energy customers into doing little things around the house in order to save energy does not make a significant difference in the long run, a government advisor has claimed.
Professor David MacKay, who advises the Department of Energy and Climate Change, said focusing on gestures such as turning off mobile phone chargers when not in use "is like bailing the Titanic with a teaspoon".
"The truth is that a typical mobile phone charger consumes just 0.01 kWh per day, exactly the same as the energy used by driving an average car for one second," he explained.
"I'm not saying that you shouldn't switch phone chargers off. But don't be duped by the mantra 'every little helps'."
The academic claimed that using cheap electricity to power transport and heating would have a bigger impact on energy savings.
Meanwhile, a University of Cambridge study has found that if British retailers shut their doors during the winter, they could save up to ten tonnes of carbon a year and reduce their energy bills by half.
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