On Fri, 2006-09-01 at 17:01 -0300, Gerhard Fiedler wrote:
> Herbert Graf wrote:
> 
> > We need energy. 
> 
> US lifestyle (not sure about Canadian) uses IIRC around twice as much
> energy per person than the next (Western European), which still uses much
> more than many others. Research about people's happiness consistently comes
> to conclusions that spending (wasting?) more energy does not correlate with
> increased happiness. 
> 
> So what is it that people are after that needs all the additional energy?

I have a feeling we Canadians are as bad or even worse then our friends
to the south with regards to energy usage per person.

The "reasons" are varied. 

We are physically VERY spread out (vs. a typical European country). That
means that we use more energy for EVERYTHING. More energy to transport
that apple to the store, more energy lost in the longer transmission
lines. More energy used going to work, going to the store, going on
vacation, etc.

Climate also has a big influence, much of Canada gets quite cold in the
winter, I'd say on average we are colder then Europe, but I'm not
certain of that.

A LARGE factor is energy here is cheaper (sometimes MUCH cheaper).
Because of this we drive bigger cars, keep our houses warmer, leave the
lights on longer, take longer showers, etc.

My Dad lives in Austria, and on a recent visit we compared utility
costs. Taking out the exchange rate (meaning I consider 1 Euro = 1 CND
$), energy usage in the house was at least twice as expensive for him
then it is for me (hydro, water, gas). Taking into account the exchange
rate results in his costs being at least 3 times higher.

For petrol without the exchange rate the costs are similar, with the
exchange rate he pays 1.5x more. However, since his car gets better
mileage and he drives less he spends less on petrol then I do in a year.

TTYL

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