In the early industrialized society it was naturally the factories that consumed the most of the energy, and they still are heavy users. But modern man has amped up his personal usage of energy to higher levels than ever before.

For the corporations it is a simple matter of economy - energy conservation can push up the yearly revenue by a great deal. Your typical consumer on the other hand use up a great deal of power, mostly electricity, for no good reason whatsoever.

No? Shaking your head in disbelief at the above statement?

Well, can you recall when last you didn't turn off your computer "since it takes so long to start back up", how much is your television turned on without you in fact watching, do you keep indoor temperatures at a level where you could walk around in your undies all day even in the winter, etc. ?

Or maybe you are one among those "sporty car owners" who can't even make it across a parking lot without flooring it?

Many people would probably answer yes to many of the questions above, and that implies they are using way more energy than they really need to. In fact, most folks are spending hundreds on electricity they don't even realize they are using. For instance, leaving you television set in stand-by mode (when the little red light is on and you can turn it on with the remote) will continuously draw energy and can cost you more than 100 dollars during the course of an entire year.

And by adopting a more relaxed driving style with your machine - not the same as driving as a snail, mind you - you can save not only on fuel, but on tires and the rest of the motorcar as well.

If a large part of western society could do the simple thing of actually turning off electrical devices when we are not using them, we would quickly reduce the need for many power plants. That isn't too much to ask, is it?