A recent article from the Economist states that there are five billion power adapters that connect wall electrical sockets to people’s electronic devices and gadgets. Everything from TVs to cellphones, computers to radios, electric razors to clocks can be found in these simple devices that convert high-voltage alternating current from the grid into low-voltage direct current to power our modern lifestyle. The article states that “until recently the conversion was made using copper wire. Typically, half the power they drew from the wall, and sometimes as much as 80%, would be lost in conversion. As a result, electricity bills and carbon emissions were both higher than necessary.” The rationale for this was laid out as such:

Making the conversion with integrated circuits is much more efficient, with as little as 20% of the power being lost. The technology for this has been available for many years and costs only around 30% more than the copper-wire method, but the market gave manufacturers little incentive to switch. Power adaptors are cheap, usually costing $2 or less. Appliance-makers tend to buy them from companies in Taiwan or China. Contracts are won and lost on a fraction of a cent per unit. And since consumers do not think about power consumption when choosing a phone or laptop, manufacturers tended to stick with copper wire.

Around 2004, two years of work by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Ecos Consulting resulted in regulations in place to make integrated circuits the standard. In a testament to the power of the American market, manufacturers all over the world had to shift their production methods to the more efficient integrated circuit approach because they couldn’t afford to make something that could not be sold in America. The upshots of all this were lower energy bills for consumers and lighter and smaller power adapters. It also saved 13 million tons of CO₂ annually worldwide, the equivalent of closing down eight coal-fired power stations.

There are still large amounts of energy conservation and pollution reduction- not to be mention monetary savings- to be had from plucking the low-hanging fruit of energy efficiency. This story is an example of government regulation and the power of the market combining forces for a positive result.

- Justin Manger

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