Conservation, Our New Major Fuel Source

Notes of an alternate world, a World Without Oil

It's funny but sad that we finally found a new major fuel source in WWO, one that had been available to us but we just didn't use it here in the USA very much. It's called conservation.

Conservation could have been a habit; in today's WWO it is a requirement. In either case, conservation cuts fuel consumption in this country by almost 50%.

Had we made conservation a habit practiced by everyone before WWO came along, the shortages we see would not have been so painful, the disruption so drastic, the destruction to our economy so final. If we had learned to conserve back then, WWO would have been noticeable, but we would have been prepared and taken it in stride. We would have had alternative energy sources and transportation ready to go.

Conservation, what's that? Transportation requires the majority of our fluid energy resources. Had we required that vehicles double their mileage, we would now have affordable autos. Had we demanded more public transportation, it would be available now. Had we curbed the expansion into the suburbs, we would not have so many people who require that transportation to go to work.

Lighting used to suck up 19% of our power in the US; in WWO it may be the same, but we have brownouts to make up the difference. Had we outlawed incandescent bulbs and old fluorescent fixtures, we would have cut that requirement to 15% by using CFLs. Had we given priority to development of LED lighting to replace all the CFLs, we could have cut that down to 10%. Had we been able to teach our children how to turn off the lights when they left the room and gotten rid of all the parasitic loads, who knows how much we could have saved.

Over half of our usage of coal goes in to generating electricity, and the creation of CO2 is a problem unless we use more energy to sequester it somehow. Had we pushed for truly renewable energy sources, like solar, wind, and wave, we would have a reliable alternative to the effects of peak coal and pollution. Had we made it more of a priority to develop fusion, we would not be lagging behind the French on the development of that source.

Conservation means finding ways to reduce the use of energy. We could have been so much better at it back when we had plenty of time to learn how. In the WWO scenario, there is no more time to learn; you just do it.

Sam
the Prudent RVer

Comments

[Tomas L. Martin (Mia)]

how very true.