Greenhouse Gas Emission Policies Is There a Way ... - Castalia

Figure 4.2: Electricity Consumption By Sector
18,000
16,000
16,151
GWh consumed
14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000
12,255
7,389
6,000
4,000
2,000
Industrial
Residential
Commercial
0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Source: MED Energy Data File
Let us now look at the components of electricity demand in more detail.
4.1.1 Demand for electricity by households
In this section we consider electricity demand by households, and examine the likely
pattern of demand (and the associated emissions). Do we observe any inefficiencies in
the use of electricity by households, and are there changes which could lead to a slowdown
in demand growth?
The first point that needs to be made is that, in New Zealand, the growth in the number
of households has exceeded the overall growth of the population, and both have been
growing in New Zealand more rapidly than in other developed countries. While the total
population increased by 18 percent from 1990 to 2004, the number of households during
that period grew by 21 percent. This obviously means that the average household size
has been declining.
The focus on households is important because there is a certain floor level of demand for
energy which is associated with each household, regardless of how few people it has. For
example, two people living together would share a fridge, a washing machine, a TV and
so on. If they establish two separate one-person households, each of those households is
likely to acquire one of those appliances. Separate households are less “efficient” in their
utilisation of electric appliances, and hence two people in separate households are likely
to consume more power than the same two people sharing a household.
In fact, the totalitarian fantasy of communal living is based on the “efficiency” of
combining households. In a free society, an underlying social trend towards smaller
households would result in a perceived reduction in the “efficiency” of power
consumption.
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