![]() ![]() ![]() Online shopping search indices suggest demand initially increased for appliances seen as essential in a crisis, such as freezers to guard against food shortages. In some countries, prompted by lockdowns, people have bought additional appliances to use in the home. Overall, increased residential energy use – combined with changes in commercial building energy intensity resulting from lower patronage while buildings remain open – is expected to increase the energy intensity of the buildings sector. However, changes in the energy intensity for specific activities (like cooking) are unlikely to be distinguishable from the rest of overall buildings sector energy intensity changes driven by Covid-19. For example, cooking a meal at home – depending on the meal and number of people eating – could use as little as half a kilowatt-hour, whereas research from the United Kingdom suggests cooking a restaurant meal could require 1.5 kWh to 3.3 kWh, as energy-intensive appliances such as deep fryers and heat lamps tend to remain on constantly. On an energy use per activity basis, changing appliance use may have benefits for energy intensity because some activities may be less energy intensive when performed with household appliances than with commercial appliances. These changes will increase residential building energy intensity (energy use per floor space). While it is difficult to predict the permanence of these behavioural changes, these usage patterns are likely to remain in the short term as several countries have introduced new Covid-19-related restrictions in the second half of 2020. This decoupling between data traffic and energy use follows broader energy efficiency trends in the sector in recent years, with the energy efficiency of data transmission and computing doubling every two to three years. However, several network operators in Europe reported that network electricity usage remained flat despite data traffic spiking by 50% or more. This pushes up not only residential energy consumption but also demand in data centres and by networks: global Internet traffic surged by almost 40% between February and mid-April. Web searches for popular media streaming services were 60% higher than 2019 levels 1 at the height of lockdowns, and interest has remained higher all year, compared with 2019. Another noticeable change was the reduced demand for electric vehicle charging, as people made fewer trips during the lockdown, whereas the use of lighting and home entertainment went up significantly.ĭigital technology use is up for both for work and entertainment, as options for in-person leisure activities are limited. ![]() For example, smart meter data from one utility in the Netherlands showed that washing machines and dryers run more frequently during the week and less on weekends. ![]()
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