4Energy

Reduction... artificial light... waste... daylight... control... solar...

legislation

The introduction has stressed the need for a reduction in the use of
energy in buildings; where the part played by a strategic role for
daylighting can provide considerable savings in energy, and therefore of
carbon dioxide emissions, leading to a reduction in greenhouse gases and
ultimately a reduction in global warming.
This is now recognized by most governments, though there is still a
reluctance to take sufficient measures to overcome the problems
involved. The ‘fossil fuels’ which provide the bulk of the energy we
use at present, are still thought of as cheap alternatives to action, ignoring
the fact that coal, gas, and oil are a finite resource with limited life for the
future, leading to a potential energy crisis.
Even where this is acknowledged, most governments have not put the
necessary investment into alternative forms of energy, by developments
in the fields of wave, wind or solar power. In the past there have been
exceptions; one being in the development of hydroelectric power, where
conditions have permitted and lucky the countries which have bene-
fitted; another is in the use of solar power in certain countries which have
exploited their natural environment; this is an area where a developing
technology can play an important part in the future.
Nuclear power in the UK has not proved to be the answer, unlike early
projections from journalists that energy would become almost free. The
generation of energy by means of nuclear power stations, has become too
expensive, added to the unsolved problems of the disposal of nuclear
waste, to a point where it is unlikely using present technology for nuclear
to provide the alternative to fossil fuels; the development of nuclear
energy is more an issue for the environmentalist. There are countries,
such as France, where a large part of their energy is derived from nuclear
plants, but in the UK there does not at present seem to be either the will
or the means.
The future therefore appears to lie in the development of alternative
sources of energy, but the problem facing us today is in taking action to
ameliorate the energy crisis as it exists.
The reduction in the use of energy in buildings has been identified as a
major objective, of which electrical energy for lighting is a significant factor.