What first? Renewable Energy or Energy Efficiency?

How do you deal with a leaking bucket, before filling it with water? The Trias Energetica (Technical University Delft, 1979) suggests how to do it for the case of energy. The triangle shows that you first repair the holes in the bucket. Then you find natural water streams to fill it. If they aren’t sufficient you integrate with the water grid, after making it efficient (there are grids that loose much water on the way from the supplier). The same is true for energy. First repair energy losses, then Renewable Energy, then increasing the conversion efficiency of fossil fuels. So, efficiency plays a much bigger role in this Triangle than in today’s society! Renewable Energy Sources are really welcome but why waste this precious assets as we do now? Let’s mend the leaks!

Trias Energetica Schurink ZAP Concepts