The use of insulation for energy conservation in Asia lags far behind that for other, developed areas of the world. For glass fiber insulation alone, we have found that per capita consumption in China is only 0.02 kg. Hong Kong consumption is 35 times higher at 0.7 kg, but both China and Hong Kong lag behind Japan with 1.7 kg, Korea with 1.4 kg, and Europe, 1.9 kg, and North America, 5.6 kg. With current GDP growing at double-digit rates annually, China will need to build a new power plant every three weeks just to keep pace with the growing demand for energy. If energy demand continues to increase at current rates, there will be a need for 90 new power plants each year by the year 2000.
Conservation can curb the growth of energy demand while allowing development to continue.
Energy conservation can stretch the value we get from our precious natural resources. Slowing energy demand can reduce the capital requirements for new power plants, the hard currency drain that accompanies oil imports and the pollution associated with energy generation. Like renewables, energy conservation is an option Asian governments cannot afford to ignore. Regional planners must include preservation in their strategies for energy management. Just as in Hong Kong, the Malaysian government looks on heroin addiction as a crime, being seemingly ignorant of the all-consuming nature of that addiction.