Natural speed please. Feel free to edit the essay if you wish. Thank you!
Personal Energy Consumption
Topic: Scientists have been warning for many years about environmental protection and how important it is to limit our personal energy consumption. What are the causes of the over-consumption of electricity? How can people be encouraged to use less energy?
Model answer:
For decades, warnings of incoming climate catastrophe have grown louder and many today are making concerted efforts to limit their carbon footprint. In my opinion, the main cause of over-consumption of electricity is the development of technology and people can be taught to limit their energy usage through strict governmental regulations.
People today use more electricity because technology has pervaded every aspect of life. Several decades ago, electricity was mainly used to power a limited number of household items including lights, televisions and washing machines. It still powers those devices but now there are phones to charge and computers that use electricity throughout the day. People tend to spend more time at home, online with their devices thus using more power. Even the large servers and generators required to power the internet add to the collective electric toll of modern technology.
The best way to cultivate good energy habits is to impose regulations. Government regulations have been a proven remedy in curbing human excess in terms of using plastic bags (bans) and smoking (taxes). This would also work when it comes to energy. One simple solution would be to tax energy use, though this step would have socioeconomic bias built into it. A better approach might be to regulate the energy efficiency of household items. This would target a high percentage of people across all classes and have an easily quantifiable, manageable outcome.
In conclusion, outsized energy consumption is down to technology and governments can regulate to minimise it moving forward. The more effort put into reducing energy use, the more dividends future generations will reap from today’s reforms.
