To combat climate change, start with the low-hanging fruit

ONE might think - after years of focus on global warming - that all the easy measures for reducing greenhouse gas emissions had been taken. And yet, as governments prepare for their 21st annual conference on climate change (COP21), some surprisingly low-hanging fruit remains.

I don't mean small fruit, either. I'm talking about big, high-yield fruit. Consider this: Fitting energy efficient electric motors on all pumps and fans with devices to regulate their speed would save 3,338 TWh (3.3 million GWh), roughly equivalent to the amount of electrical energy produced in the EU in 2013.

The opportunity is so huge because electric motors are among the biggest consumers of energy. They power all manner of equipment and account for about 40 per cent of all electricity consumed worldwide. In the European Union (EU), they are responsible for about 12 per cent of total carbon dioxide emissions, second only to space-heating products.