10.2190/VQEU-MHQE-T0ED-FNJC VQEUMHQET0EDFNJC 5 Potential for Energy Conservation Through Increased Efficiency of Use 153 169 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 VQEUMHQET0EDFNJC.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=VQEUMHQET0EDFNJC 2 Eric Hirst John C. Moyers ORNL-NSF Environmental Program, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Opportunities exist for significantly increasing the efficiency with which energy is used in the United States. This paper discusses such opportunities for (a) the transportation sector (shifts from energy-intensive modes to energy-efficient modes, increased use of existing equipment, and technological changes to increase vehicle energy efficiency) and (b) the household sector (additional building insulation, electric heat pumps rather than electric-resistance heating, energy-efficient air conditioners, and addition of insulation to water heaters). Such energy efficiency improvements may require institutional and social changes, but technologies are generally available to implement such strategies. The benefits to the nation in terms of energy conservation, reduced reliance on energy imports and improved balance of payments, reduced adverse environmental impacts, lower dollar costs, and a return to a more conservative resource-use ethic are potentially large. Policies to achieve such goals would involve some life-style changes and important institutional decisions, but they do not imply a return to "caves and candles." U. S. Bureau of Mines, "U. S. Energy Use at New High in 1971," News Release, March 31, 1972. Stanford Research Institute, <i>Patterns of Energy Consumption in the United States</i>, prepared for the Office of Science and Technology, January 1972. E. Hirst, <i>Energy Intensiveness of Passenger and Freight Transport Modes: 1950-1970</i>, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Report ORNL-NSF-EP-44, April 1973. E. Hirst, "Energy for Transportation," presented at Conference on Energy as a Scarce Resource, Pasadena, December 1972. U. S. Office of Emergency Preparedness, <i>The Potential for Energy Conservation</i>, October 1972. Office of Air and Water Programs, <i>Fuel Economy and Emission Control</i>, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, November 1972. E. Hirst, "Transportation Energy Use and Conservation Potential," presented at Conference on Energy: Demand, Conservation and Institutional Problems, MIT, Cambridge, February 12-14, 1973. Also to be published in <i>Bulletin of Atomic Scientists</i>, September 1973. J. C. Moyers, <i>The Value of Thermal Insulation in Residential Construction; Economics and the Conservation of Energy</i>, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Report ORNL-NSF-EP-9, December 1971. J. C. Moyers, "Analysis of Energy Uses," in <i>Electrical Energy and Its Environmental Impact</i>, Progress Report—December 31, 1972, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Report ORNL-NSF-EP-40, March 1973. J. Tansil, <i>Residential Consumption of Electricity: 1950-1970</i>, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Report ORNL-NSF-EP (to be published). Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, <i>1972 Directory of Certified Room Air Conditioners</i>, Chicago, Illinois, May 1972. E. Hirst and J. C. Moyers, Efficiency of Energy Use in the United States, <i>Science, 179</i>, (4080), March 30, 1973. R. S. Quinn, Jr., "The Effect of Increased Capital Expenditures as a Method of Reducing Electricity Demand for Hot Water Generation in a New Home," M. S. thesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, August 1972. J. C. Bravard et al., <i>Energy Expenditures Associated with the Production and Recycle of Metals</i>, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Report ORNL-NSF-EP-24, November 1972. A. J. Miller et al., <i>Use of Steam-Electric Power Plants to Provide Thermal Energy to Urban Areas</i>, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Report ORNL-HUD-14, January 1971.