Dan Minette wrote:
>I wrote:
> > But why does it surprise you that we could save that much?
>
> Because, when the price of oil went up by about a factor of 4 in real
> dollars (IIRC) in the '70s and early '80s, the use of energy only slowed its
> growth. A 11% drop without a significant increase in price was hard to
> understand. But, I did a bit more research and found that there was about
> 15 GW offline in April compared to the usual 3 GW (May's data were not in.)
> Combining this with the reduction of supply from the Northwest resulted in a
> decrease in the total supply.
I, unfortunately, don't have time for a comprehensive reply to your post, but
you might find this article in today's Mercury News interesting:
http://www0.mercurycenter.com/local/center/con070101.htm. 12.8% reduction in
consumption in comparison with last June with corrections for population and
weather differences.
BTW, I checked LAX's weather for May of this
> year and last and found that the average temperature for this year was
> actually cooler than last.
I'm in the Bay area, >500 miles North of L.A.
>
> >It wouldn't surprise me at all if, with a concerted effort over a year or
> two, we saved
> > twice as much as that on a regular basis.
>
> Well, historically, voluntary efforts don't amount to much...outside of
> wartime. If people don't cut their energy use when prices go up, why should
> we expect them to do it when prices stay close to the same. Now, I've heard
> that some rate increase has been allowed, so that should help with
> conservation, but it would take about 2x for much to happen.
We've had about a 50% increase, but I think it's been relatively easy to cut
back as much as we have already. Turn stuff off, use energy guzzling
appliances in off peak hours, replace incandescent bulbs with fluorescent ones
(which I really like by the way) etc. etc. Nothing very difficult at all and
really just a matter of a little education and encouragement.
I've got a project review tomorrow so I've got to quit screwing off but....
> Out of curiosity, do you think that there is a reasonably priced source of
> renewable energy that is being hidden? Do you think that the engineers and
> scientists are just not trying? It sounds to me that this is wishful
> thinking engineering. If it isn't, I'd appreciate being shown how.
>
I think that there is the possibility that some of the most wealthy, powerful
and ambitious people in the world aren't very interested in cutting their own
economic throat. Why don't you tell me what you think would happen to the oil
industry if fusion power became a reality. I'll bet you know what I think.
8^)
Doug
