Energy Efficiency in Portugal
Studies say that the national consumption of electricity remains significantly above the European average
Studies say that the national consumption of electricity remains significantly above the European average
According to the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, since 1997, Portugal has worsened its position in the European context as regards the consumption of electricity. The data indicate that our country is significantly above the European average.
However, it is possible that this situation will change in the coming years. For such to take place, a reduction is needed in electricity costs, as well as several efforts to combat this problem. It is the case of the Energy Agency (ADENE - Agência para a Energia). It has programmes to increase the energy efficiency of housing namely “Energy efficiency in buildings” (“Eficiência energética nos edifícios”), but also the programme “Management of intensive energy consumption in industries” (“Gestão dos consumos intensivos de energia nas Indústrias”). People care more and more about the energy efficiency of their homes “for economic reasons, since home improvements with a view to improving energy efficiency are always beneficial, both in economic terms and for environmental purposes”, claims Jorge Nunes, ADENE engineer and energy certification officer, to the newspaper “Pau de Giz”. This issue of energy efficiency is important as a means of mitigating climate change. Filipa Alves, an environmental engineer and one of the people responsible for the EcoCasa project from the environmental association Quercus, said in an interview with “Pau de Giz” that “the energy consumption of households and services buildings account for nearly 30% of the energy consumption in the country. For that reason, it is important to us as users to call on this issue and have a more efficient energy consumption. Hence the emergence, 11 years ago, of the EcoCasa project, which aims at sensitising people to call on this subject with very simple measures to reduce this consumption”. Jornal Pau de Giz (JPG) – What kind of work do you, Filipa Alves (engineer), perform on the project? Filipa Alves (FA) – So, regarding the project what we do is to provide various types of information on the EcoCasa project website, both in terms of the good practice we must have, and in terms of acquisition of more efficient equipment. We have simulators for people to test, so the purchase of more efficient equipment can be advantageous. We talk about more efficient lighting so often that the question arises: a lamp, which is much more expensive, does it not pay off to replace it? Hence, we have simulators that help people making these assessments. We also have information on renewable energies at various levels. So we do lectures, go to schools, carry out activities like these, we do exhibitions, provide answers to questions made by phone or email. We do a lot of outreach work, clarify questions, etc. Sometimes there are still some ideas relating to older equipment, with older lighting, and questions about how to act, for instance, at school, whether to turn off the lights during the break or not. With the school’s old lighting, about 20 years ago, it did not pay off to turn off the light during 5 or 10-minute breaks. Nowadays, one should turn off the light in during breaks for example and it is this kind of questions and ideas that still exist that we seek to clarify in the project. |
JPG – Besides the EcoCasa project, are you aware of other similar projects in Portugal?
FA – In what concerns information projects that are this as comprehensive, the EcoCasa project covers other topics, not just fuel efficiency, we also make approaches on the themes of water, the movement of waste, sustainable consumption, sustainable construction, which is key to energy efficiency. So, I cannot think of one as comprehensive as this one but, for instance, energy agencies have work and sometimes they have on their websites enough information about energy efficiency, and seek to raise awareness in their intervention areas to obtain a greater energy efficiency in their regions. JPG – Is it important to alert people to this topic? FA – Exactly, yes. And in this context, we have developed projects in which we started going to families’ homes, and advising them regarding their particular situation because most people only realise what they can do when we go into their homes and explicitly say “this lamp you have here really consumes a lot of energy.” Sometimes, the person when addressing us on how long that lamp has been used and whether or not it still is efficient soon realises that it is a lamp that must be changed. Therefore, occasionally the person needs not only generic information, but to talk about her specific case, and we provide the equipment measurements, namely stand-by consumption, consumption when the equipment is off but has that little light on, even when there is no light. For that reason, some equipment even when it is completely turned off have some hidden consumption, the so-called ghost consumption, and people are not aware of the consumption their home equipment. Hence, we began visiting people’s houses precisely to measure and evaluate the use people make of their equipment, how it is used, what they have, what they do, and explain specifically in their situation what they can do. It really is an advantage because the person notices that in their concrete case what he/she can do to act and lower consumption, thus making it more efficient. JPG – In these interactions that the programme performs with the population, do you see an increase in concern to reduce the energy cost of housing because, apart from helping the environment, we are also adjusting our household budget to a time of crisis? FA – Exactly, immediately so. Those who are more aware of these projects have, at once, some concerns regarding the environment, and in most cases they already do some things at home. Therefore, some families already do practically everything; they are just not aware of it. As to the economic factor, it is always important and, in fact, it contributes and is as an incentive to people. Consequently, none of these projects is active at the moment, though people often contact us regarding high energy bills, high electricity bills, questioning and trying to understand the reason for these bills. In this case, what we try to do is to talk to those people and understand where and what type of equipment they possess, and how it is used. |
Work by: Adriana Almeida, Beatriz Oliveira, Margarida Alves e João Pedro Vilas
10th Grade
Escola Básica e Secundária de Infias (Middle and High School), Vizela
This work was carried out under the Flash Seminar held on the 9th and the 16th of April 2015 at Escola Básica e Secundária de Infias (Middle School), Vizela. Students developed media content based on interviews with experts in various fields related to climate change and research on the subject.
10th Grade
Escola Básica e Secundária de Infias (Middle and High School), Vizela
This work was carried out under the Flash Seminar held on the 9th and the 16th of April 2015 at Escola Básica e Secundária de Infias (Middle School), Vizela. Students developed media content based on interviews with experts in various fields related to climate change and research on the subject.