An oxymoron is a term in English used to describe the combination of two contradictory terms. The "deafening silence" and "a mournful optimist" are just two examples that fall in line with this explanation.

Though many fail to realise ‘Energy Conservation’ too is an oxymoron. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. Technically, something that cannot be created nor destroyed – something that’s intangible and not within our control – cannot be conserved either.

What exactly does conservation mean? ‘Conservation’ in the past was used to describe the act of putting aside something for preservation. It did not entail any utilisation aspect. But at present, ‘conservation’ is used to describe a more comprehensive action, which includes both preservation and utility aspects. Conservation is nearly always coupled with the phrase of sustainable development, particularly in environmental conservation. Inasmuch, the same logic has been adopted in the field of energy management, wherein energy is deemed an entity requiring both conservation and sustainable management. This is the first step towards reaching an energy secure future, a dire need in our country.

Although the notions of Energy Conservation may entail hard sciences and incomprehensible logic, we could actually start implementing these in our own homes. Our simple actions like turning off a lamp when leaving a room, switching off a television at a commercial break, opting to walk to the shop on top of the lane rather than drive…etc…etc, are none other than energy conservation measures. This concept is also termed the ‘least cost energy saving option’ because it does not entail any costs in implementation, upgrading or purchasing equipment, whereas most other higher level options incur these costs.

The easiest energy conservation measure that can be practised at home is the campaign ‘switch-off if unnecessary’. All households should agree to switch-off appliances such as lamps, fans or television sets if no one is in need of such light, comfort and entertainment at that particular moment. Perhaps your list should also be extended to include radios, refrigerators and other appliances, accompanied with suitable energy wastage reduction methods.

However, most households are unable to practise these. If one person switches on a light which he seems not to want, the others, instead of turning it off, wait till he returns to the scene and turns it off himself. "It’s he who did the wrong, so he should fix it!" This seems to be an implicit practice in many homes among both young and old. But in the ‘switch-off if unnecessary’ campaign, all persons are made equally responsible of switching off if unnecessary. Again, it is always easier to motivate the youngsters to kick off this campaign rather than motivating stubborn elders who generally disdain change.

Please do remember,

*  If you see a lamp lighting, but unnecessarily – switch it off

*  If you see a fan rotating, but no beneficiary – switch it off

*  Grow shady trees around your home. Trees around a home reduce the temperature by 2 degrees Celsius, both day and night.

*  If you see a lone television benefiting none, but dishing out commercial after commercial – switch it off…

*  Stick to a ‘must see’ weekly television schedule, avoid all else

*  If you see a television set in the standby mode, switch it off

*  Next time when you start a computer, remember to change the power management settings permitting the computer to switch-off monitors and hard disks after a suitable idle time

*  If you go on a long journey for days, switch off your refrigerator. But please do remember to consume or distribute all food items as appropriate, rather than letting them rot in the fridge.

*  Electric appliances such as radio, DVD or even mobile phone chargers must be disconnected from wall sockets, when not in use

*  If the soiled clothes load is small, opt to hand wash rather than operating a washing machine.

*  Dry clothes in the sun. Do not turn on the clothes dryer, even if you have one

*  Switch off electric kettles, heaters and hotplates and turn off gas stoves when not in use

*  Do not to keep the rice cooker in the ‘keep-warm’ mode for hours on end

Similar to domestic energy, transport energy too can be saved by resorting to cutting down the hours of usage of a vehicle or more correctly the engine running time.

*  If the journey is short, just walk it. Do not use the vehicle to travel short distances. If you are living in the congested city, a taxi ride should save a lot of money rather than burning petrol in your own car

*  Never start the engine unless all the people are seated and ready, and doors closed

*  Most new vehicles do not need a warm up time – hence start the engine only when you are to actually move.

*  Be pretty sure that all peripheral things (such as locking the house, letting the dog out, feeding the fish and even hiding the key underneath the flower pot…etc) are done, before getting into the vehicle. Surely, you would not need to start the vehicle and then, "Ah, forgot…!" run back.

*  Attend to car-caring aspects like wiping the wind shield, taking the carpets out…etc, before you start the car

*  Open the shutters a little before getting in. Let in fresh air. Cool the car before the air-conditioner is tasked with the job.

*  Take the route that will take you with the minimum time. This may not necessarily be the shortest route! Remember, a congested short cut can take the longest time

Although similar to homes in certain aspects, overall, offices offer slightly different opportunities in energy conservation. One important reason for this difference is the nature of offices, which is often a meeting place for many different individuals, preferring different comfort levels and even illumination levels. Since most modern offices are air-conditioned, and this being the primary contributor to electricity bills the following measures will be the most effective in office energy conservation.

*  Open the windows in the morning till about 9. 30 am. This allows in fresh air. Air conditioners should be turned on around 9.30 am, of course after closing all doors and windows.

*  Fix the temperature setting to 26 degrees Celsius. Each degree lowered consumes 4% more electricity

*  Use a higher temperature setting (e.g. 28 degrees) with a pedestal fan. The comfort level will be increased, but with lower energy consumption

* Use power management settings of all equipment including computers to your advantage

*  Share printers and facsimile machines through a network, each machine out of your room will conserve energy

*  Identify usage pattern of all appliances and switch on only when necessary (e.g. turn on that high volume copier only when you really need many copies)

*  Add individual pendulum style switches to ganged switches – so when your co-worker leaves, he can switch-off only his lamp, without letting it idle

*  Use water dispensers having all three sprouts – hot / cold and just water – the dispensers having only hot and cold sprouts are an absolute waste of electricity

*  If possible, make in an area that has no air conditioning.

If you undertake the above, you would surely save energy, considerably. Remember, it costs nothing, but saves a lot.