INTERVIEW: EFFICIENCY

From one of the best reporters on the energy beat.

Interview: IR Chief Talks Efficiency
Kristyn Ecochard, June 15, 2007 (UPI)

WHO
Alex Lidow, CEO, International Rectifiers Corp. (IR)

WHAT
International Rectifiers Corp. specializes in electrical parts with high efficiencies and Lidow, its CEO, thinks saving energy is where the money is.
simple efficiency (click to enlarge)

WHEN
Interview June 15.
2005: 26% of IR total revenue ($1.174 billion) from efficiency products

WHERE
IR is based in El Segundo, CA.

WHY
Lidow’s awareness of efficiency’s value goes back to his Stanford days when he realized the price of his eyeglasses came from the energy costs in getting them to him: Heat to melt the glass, to formulate and mold the frames, to deliver them to the optometrist, etc.
Making equipment more efficient is far more sensible than subsidizing alternative energies that require more energy to make than they produce when used.
Some products – like the expensive and inefficient hybrid Lexus 460H – are not good bargains despite “green” branding.
Other products – like energy efficient refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners – can save the world $100 billion/year in energy. Lidow stresses that even if these appliances cost more, the long-term savings are worth the price. He added that this applies to new compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs) and the next generation of hybrid cars.
This is the attitude IR brings to helping companies find more efficient ways to operate.

QUOTES
- Lidow: "In the last 30 years, almost all of our products have been aimed at saving energy. It was only in the last seven or eight years that we really recognized that…Today our energy saving products are a very fast-growing part of our business and we are focused on saving 30 percent of the world's energy."
even simpler efficiency

- Lidow: "…people get very confused between price and cost. For example, people think that the cost of a barrel of oil is $65 but in fact that's just the price; the cost is substantially less and depends on how hard it is to extract the oil from the ground…"
- Lidow: “You can't look at energy savings without understanding how much it costs to save the energy…if you don't take into account the cost of saving energy…you can make some bad decisions."
- Lidow: "We're in danger of lulling ourselves into complacency, which will make it harder for us to make the changes…We need to be encouraging the true conservation of energy and channeling the savings towards remediation of carbon production."
- Lidow: "Our mission is energy efficiency and it infiltrates everything we do and think about…I hope we're somewhat enlightened about it…Energy efficiency increases global standard of living and that's what I want to do."