Art Rosenfeld --The Father of Energy Efficiency or Energy Efficiency is not Rocket Science

Just when you think you know it all, you learn something new. I was searching for research to support an upcoming post about the recalcitrance of the automobile industry in improving the fuel efficiency of cars in order to compare it to the relative cooperativeness of appliance manufacturers and more specifically refrigerator manufacturers. I recall that in the 1980s and 1990s either the DOE or California conducted a competition among refrigerator manufacturers for the best way to improve refrigerator efficiency. The competition was successful and is certainly a factor in why our refrigerators today are much more energy efficient than they used to be. I still haven't found the details of that competition, but I did stumble upon an article about Art Rosenfeld, who when he received the Fermi Prize for lifetime achievement in physics last year the EPA credited with all the efficiency initiatives adopted between 1973 and 2005—the "Rosenfeld Efficiency Factor"— saving an amount of electricity equivalent to 21 percent of U.S. consumption last year, or $228 billion. He should be a national hero. Here is an article about him. Here is another one.

It turns out that Rosenfeld was a very accomplished physicist in the early 1970s when he realized during the OPEC oil embargo how much oil he was burning by leaving the lights on in his office at night. This inspired him to seek out ways first to make his office more energy efficient and then to look more broadly at the issue. He figured he would go back to physics eventually but has been leading the energy efficiency charge in California and the rest of the world ever since. California residents, by the way, consume 30% less electricity per capita than the rest of the country. Though his field of expertise in physics was not rocket science, the point is that he left the field of physics to pursue energy efficiency.

A friend of mine recently told me that I should write a book about how to be more energy efficient because he just didn't know how to go about it. I told him it wasn't rocket science. Most everything you need to know already exists in books, magazines, or on the internet. Much of it comes down to choosing the more fuel or energy efficient options. I think in fact the reason it seems so difficult to some people is that it is actually so remarkably simple. The challenge is how to collectively motivate ourselves to make the choices and take the actions to be energy efficient. With Valentine's Day coming up, I keep thinking I should start a little business to attractively decorate and gift wrap compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) that people could give as housewarming gifts or send to each other on special occasions -- "You Light Up My Life...". One of the presentations would be as a bouquet with the CFLs in place of flowers.

My father, when we played tennis together, would regularly point out that I had a very energy efficient game. I think this might have been a subtle way of telling me he thought I was lazy. I have though maintained that energy efficient bent throughout my life though not slavishly. Our home is small by modern standards, heavily insulated, and configured to optimize the use of sun and shade. We have SEER 19 heat pumps, CFLs, an on demand hot water heater, all Energy Star appliances, and a hybrid vehicle. I try to eat as little meat as I can which doesn't mean I don't eat any but I try to keep it to a minimum for both health and energy reasons. I am by no means a paragon of energy efficiency but I think that's okay. If we collectively held ourselves to these standards, our energy security would be vastly improved. Unfortunately, many of us simply can't afford to spend the upfront money to live to these standards, which gets back to my idea of giving the gift of energy efficiency. That gift could go to a friend, someone less fortunate, a charity, or an institution like your local school, hospital, or college. And to make that gift even better, you could in the case of light bulbs screw them in yourself. What a great and easy way to make a difference.