Scientists estimate that as much as much as 30% of all energy produced is wasted. Some of that is obvious stuff like leaving the lights on in a room when no one is there or leaving a door open on a winter day. 

Some of the energy waste can't be seen as easily, like heat loss from a house. During the winter, do icicles hang from the edge of your roof? That is because heat is escaping through your roof and melting the snow, which runs down the roof and drips to form icicles. Pretty, but it wastes energy.

Some energy loss can't be seen, but can be measured.  All the energy used by all the homes and businesses doesn't add up to the amount of energy in the fuel burned to make electricity.

The following illustrates energy loss:

If 100 units of energy in fuel burned at power plant:

Therefore, 48 units arrive at a home or at business.

We waste even more energy at home, because our electrical appliances get hot. Feel the computer you are using now. Is it hot? Try your TV, radio or refrigerator at home, too.

Our power plants create and transmit high voltage alternating current (AC) to our homes. But our electronic equipment uses low voltage direct current (DC). So, 1/3 of all electricity delivered to our homes is used up turning the high voltage AC to low voltage DC.

That means we are using about 32 units of energy for every 100 used up at the power plant.

But wait! There's more waste: Another about 1/3 of the energy is used up in the process of keeping devices "warm" and ready to start. For example, your TV. When you turn it on, you get a picture right away. That's because it's using electricity to keep warm. 

Only about 20 units of the original 100 burned are used to do something we really want to do, like cool or cook our food or dry our hair. 

There are two ways you can reduce the amount of energy wasted. When you buy an electrical appliance, like a computer, washer, dryer, or television, it has an Energy Star rating. It tells you how efficiently the item will use electricity. You can buy things that use less energy per hour of use. 

You can also unplug appliances or move the on/off switch to the front of the power transformer.

We measure electricity using watts. A typical house uses 1/200 of a megawatt (about 5 kilowatts) per hour. The average home uses only about 1.5 to 2 megawatts per year. 

Buildings lose heat through walls, windows and cracks. Insulation is a barrier that slows heat loss. Insulation can be made of recycled newspaper, asbestos, or foams like Styrofoam. Trapped air can be a good insulator, too. That's how some windows prevent heat loss. The next time you see a sliding glass door, take a close look at it. It is probably made of two layers of glass with air trapped between them.

No matter who you are or where you live, whether you go to work or to school

  YOU CAN SAVE ENERGY !

Here are some simple things you can do:

When you do buy things, try to get as little packaging as possible. Can you think of a time when you went to the store to buy some little thing and ended up with a package many times larger?

If you own a house, make sure you have enough insulation. You have to spend money to buy and install the insulation, but you will pay less to heat your home. After a certain time, you will save as much money as you spend on the insulation. That period is called "payback" time. It is different for each home and situation. When you buy an new furnace, refrigerator, or other appliance, get one that is energy efficient. 

If you own a car, drive 55 m.p.h. instead of 70 m.p.h. You will save gasoline and money. Don't accelerate rapidly or make sudden stops. 

Buy a car that gets good gas mileage, not a gas-guzzler. It's easy to find a car Europe to buy a car that gets 70 miles per gallon but in the US, you are lucky to find one that gets 30 m.p.g. Why is that?

That are lots more ways to save energy. Look in you local library for books on energy conservation. In fact, when you borrow a book form the library, you're saving energy compared to buying a book!