HSBC Commit to change
The world's local bankFacts about Energy
- A return flight from the UK to Australia for one passenger uses as much energy as an average household uses for heating, lighting and cooking for three months.
- If every household in the UK used three energy-efficient bulbs, it would save enough electricity to power all the street lighting in the UK forever.
- Homes and businesses waste around US$20 billion worth of energy worldwide every year.
- An energy-efficient washing machine can save up to 33% of the energy used by non-efficient washing machines.
- An energy-efficient refrigerator can save up to 66% of the energy used by non-efficient refrigerators.
- Transporting food long distances wastes energy. When iceberg lettuce is flown from Los Angeles to the UK, 127 calories of fuel are required for every 1 calorie of lettuce.
- Making a new beverage can from recycled aluminium requires only 5% of the energy needed to make a can from raw ore.
- Screen savers do not save energy and those with moving images can actually use more energy than when you are using your computer.
- UK government legislation requires that, by 2010, 10% of the electricity supply must come from renewable sources. The government also aims to cut carbon dioxide production by 60% by 2050.
- A typical 1.5 MW wind turbine can produce enough electricity to supply 500 homes per year.
- 75% of all energy use happens in cities.
- Climate models predict that local temperatures in Queensland, Australia, will rise about 3.5° Centigrade (6.3° Fahrenheit) in the next century, resulting in a nearly 50% extinction rate among animals only found there.
- A UN committee has estimated a need for 60% reduction in global fuel use to stabilise the climate. Currently governments have only committed to a maximum of 6%.
