People also have more telephones, fridges, radios, computers and cars.
More responsible fridges might even reduce the number of power cuts and brown-outs.
The transition to more efficient fridges, Chu pointed out, has saved the equivalent of all the energy generated in the United States by wind turbines and solar cells.
Simply by buying more efficient fridges over the years, he reckons, Americans have come to save more than 200 terawatt-hours (TWh) annually, or roughly 80 power plants' worth.But as McKinsey points out, there are still hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of unfulfilled but potentially profitable opportunities in energy efficiency available to households and companies.
While Skelton said eCO2 is "cost-neutral" with rival CO2 refrigerants, Parker points out that the switch from using R404A, which most supermarkets use, to CO2 will involve putting in more expensive fridges and freezers (with of course an additional resource impact).
But whichever approach you take, the most important thing to do is to take your cheese out of the fridge more than five minutes before serving.
By 2006, the average person in Shanghai owned two mobile phones, 1.7 air-conditioners, 1.7 colour television sets, more than one fridge and spent 14,761 yuan a year (around £1,455), some 70% more than the rest of the country.
Alternatively, keep it in a cool shed, garage or the boot of the car, or else decant it into a plastic container that might fit into the fridge more easily.
You can find more details on Fridge's product in our launch post about the service.
