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known as the Urba car a lready ex–
ists.
It
can be bui lt for under $2000,
seats two, and gets 50 miles per
gallon.
• Achieve a na tionwide average
of 37 miles per gaUon for all auto–
mobiles in operation by
1990.
(See
box on the automobi le.)
3) Move toward deregulated
price controls on fossil fuels.
Americans may be living in the ul–
t¡ma te fool's paradise if they think
they can continue to use petroleum
and natural gas at today's regulated
prices. Regulated gas and oi l prices
perpetuate the myth of cheap and
abundant energy in an age of in–
creasing scarcity. As supplies be–
come harder to come by, somebody
is going to have to pay more for
additional production.
If consumers expect prívate own–
ership to produce their gas, then, as
for any other commodíty, they
should expect to pay the going
free-market price. Unfortunately, in
a market dominated by large cor–
pora te conglomera tes the petro–
leum and natural gas market has
been anything but a free one in the
classical sense. Obviously this prob–
lem would have to be dealt with
before deregulat ion is attempted.
But a modes t move in this direct ion
could be an added incentive to get
the nation off the petroleum stan–
dard and on to more stable and se–
cure energy supplies such as solar
power and coal.
4) Limit the expanslon of
th~
nuclear-power program.
Cur–
rently the United States has about
55 reactors in operation with a total
capacity of 31.000 megawatts. Re–
actors with the production capacity
of another
59,000
megawatts are al–
ready under construction. Any nu–
clear plant construction beyond th is
should be greatly discouraged.
Nuclear power development is a
classic exarople of money being
wasted expanding a "hard-capital"
intensive technology whose long–
te rm social and environmental im–
pact has yet to be fully evaluated.
Nuclear-genera ted electricity is no
longer the cheap power panacea it
was once thought to be. Rising con–
struction and fuel costs threaten to
make the atom a more expensive
source of electricity than coal in a
few years. Nuclear fuel will not
The
PLAIN TRUTH
March 1978
Energy Conservation:
Sorne Estirnated
Fuel Savings
by
1990
Fucl equivaleot savings:
millions of barre is per da
y
l . Achieving 37 mpg average
3.00
for all autos in operation.
2. Retrofitting existíng build- 12.50
ings and proper design of new
construction.
3. lncreasi ng aircraft load
0.45
factors from
SS
to 80 pcrcent.
4. Generating power from
0 .79
municipal garbagc.
S.
Cogeneration of power by
3.00
industry.
6. Solar powcr.
1.00
Saving 24 million barreis of petro·
leum per day in 1990 would eliminate
the need for imponed oil (plus about
65 percent of thc planned expansion
in nuclear power). The above list of
soft technology and conservation mea–
sures is by no means exhausti , ·e. Othcr
possibilities include: methane from
ga rbage . methano l added to gasolinc.
recycling. wood and wind power.
Fucl equivalent savings:
millions of barreis per da
y
7. lncreased industrial effi-
1.50
ciency-be ller use of waste
heat. leak plugging. etc.
8. Improved coal-bu rnin g
1.00
technology (magnetohydrody-
namics. fluidized-bed fumaces).
9.
Shift 20% of truck freight
0.50
to ra iltransport.
10. Shift 30% of cornmutcr
0.50
travelto buses or railtransit.
Total cnergy saved
24.24
Sorne of thc ahove are figures bascd
on rough mathcmatical approxima–
tions . Howcvcr. thc overall encrgy
savi ngs of 38.6 pcrccnt (out of a to ta l
projccted consumption of 62.8 mi Ilion
barrels-per-day cquivalent) rcprc–
scnted here is fairly close to a 35.5
percent estímate for the year 2000 ar·
rived at in a rcccnt study by thc Ford
Foundation.
Sources: Moaor Vch•clc:
Manufuclurcrs Assoe:iauon.
Motor Vcludt> Focts
ond
Figurn, 1976.
Shell 01l
Papcrs,
Th(' Nuwma/
Entrgy Outlook, 1971.
AmtrK:an lnslitute of Archuecu.
Ent'rgr and tht Butlt
fn"'rOnmtnt ·
A Gap m Curren/
StrattgltS
Tiu:
Ford FoundatiOO. f.J<plonng Fnergy Choiccs.
1974. Lee
Sch•pper. .. RaiSing
thc
ProduCliVIl}
ur 1
ncrg) Uuliuuon ...
Annua/
Rm••
ofEnuv·.
•ol. l. 1976. Amo') Lovms.
"Entrgy Su••egy · The
Road
Nol
Tal en:·
fom~n
Affom.
O<:tober
1976.
Sorne Estirnated
Dollar Savings
by
1990
l.
Retrofitting cxisting buildings and
proper design of new construction.
2. Solar hea.ting.
3. Freezing nuclear power at prcsent
Ievels.
4. Cogeneration of energy by indus–
try.
S.
lmproved coaltechnology.
$415 billion in capi tal required for ex–
panded energy production. Would pay
foritselfin lOto 18years.
$50 bi ll ion invcstmcnt would save ·$28
billion in fuel over next 13 years a t
today's prices.
Would produce an estimated $430 bil–
lion in capital savings.
Would save industry $20 to $50 billion
in additional investments.
Techn iques such as MHD and fluid–
ized-bed furnaces would improvc effi–
ciency and cleanliness of coal power
and cost far Iess to develop than syn–
thetic fuels.
13