Facts on Energy Consumption and Efficiency
- When you turn on an incandescent light bulb, only 10 percent of the electricity used is turned into light. The other 90 percent is wasted as heat.
- A compact fluorescent light bulb uses 75 percent less energy than an incandescent bulb and has about 10 times the life expectancy.
- Every time you open the refrigerator door, up to 30 percent of the cold air can escape.
- The average American consumes 6 times more energy than the world average.
- With less than five percent of the world’s population, the U.S. consumes about one fourth of the world’s energy resources.
- The United States uses a lot of energy—nearly a million dollars worth each minute, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
- A two-degree adjustment to a home thermostat setting (lower in winter, higher in summer) reduces energy consumption and eliminates up to 500 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year.
- Fossil fuels—coal, oil, and natural gas—are America's primary source of energy, accounting for 85 percent of current US fuel use.
- Because two-thirds of the world's proven oil reserves lie in the politically unstable Persian Gulf region, the United States is increasingly vulnerable to and reliant on this region.
- Lighting accounts for about 20% of all the electricity used in America – costing more than $37 billion annually and accounting for 10% of all CO2 emissions, the main "greenhouse gas."
- A 100 watt light bulb that operates 24 hours per day for an entire year indirectly results in the emission of approximately 1300 pounds of CO2.
- The Brandeis Campus’ electricity consumption in fiscal year 2005 indirectly resulted in the emission of approximately 74 million pounds of CO2.
- According to the U.S. Department of Energy, by 1992 energy-efficiency measures were Saving U.S. residents $150 billion every year, and were reducing carbon emissions by 300 million metric tons!
- Most appliances continue to consume power even when they are turned off!
