Forty percent of that powers old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs—a 19th-century technology that wastes most of the power it consumes on unwanted heat.
A more meaningful measure of the labor and human potential going to waste is the fact that almost one in four Britons aged sixteen to sixty-four are now classed as "inactive" in the labor market.
Just earlier this year, the European Parliament voted in favor of legislation that would stop grocery giants from unfair trading practices that result in overproduction, thus creating waste.