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At the time I am writing this, gas is $2.72 per gallon. It is going to go up, and it has to go up. I wrote an article two years ago titled “Mass Transit Now!” During that time span, not much has happened to improve mass transportation. Greyhound still gets people down the road, eventually, and Amtrak does too, and cars still cover the roads as far as the eye can see. Many people are still driving SUV’s. Now is the time to wander a little further into the future, and speculate that by the time a good mass transportation system is in place in cities and for long distance trips, more will be needed to address our energy demands.
Competition for oil is just beginning, and before it is over the competition could easily be deadly and devastating, with players like China, Russia, and Brazil. The United States, the number one energy pig in the world, is about to have some siblings at the trough. The supplies will go to the highest bidder, most likely, if there aren’t some downright political strings attached in some cases. The U.S, like any of the other countries now competing for oil, is over a barrel.
While we are in the unique position of being the number one energy pig, it is now our imperative to lead by example, and show that we can reduce consumption. There are several ways of accomplishing this, and we have to use them all—or at least most of them—if we have any dreams of avoiding a chaotic and uncertain future.
Imagine where we will be if we continue to carry on, just like we have been, with SUV’s in traffic jams and well-lit houses that are especially well lit at Christmas time. Imagine the world of rolling blackouts, rocketing gas prices, and uncertain and unsteady supplies. Imagine gas doubling every three to five years until only the very wealthy can afford to drive on a regular basis. If you are very wealthy, you will be able to enjoy un-congested traffic for a while until the roads fall into disrepair because of the dwindling numbers of drivers. Imagine all of the shifts in the economy that will accompany this world of uncertainty. What will happen to every industry that is related in some way to oil energy—and tell me—what industry actually isn’t? This is the world we are sure to inherit if we continue along without making adjustments to ease the coming crunch.
Some people will say we are doomed to failure, but I will take a more optimistic approach and say we still have time, but mass transportation is no longer enough. What follows are my suggestions for a leaner, meaner energy pig:
1.Make Lifestyle Changes.
This is the hardest adjustment for true blue Americans to make, I believe. It involves being much more aware of circumstances than many of us usually are. Every day, millions of people pass each other as they leave their homes, and go to work. Often, people are passing someone to go to work near their neighborhood, while those people pass you to go work in your neighborhood.
Lifetimes are spent in this insane transit every day, cumulatively speaking. One of the most substantial changes any American can make, and one of the wisest choices, is to live very close to work, or be willing to move to be very close to work. If a majority of persons could do that, gas use would go way down. Some side effects would be less time in senseless traffic jams, and using that time for other things. If things got really bad, as they well could, being near work could become more than a mere convenience.
While you and I are executing this (sometimes) painful and deliberate maneuver, we may also wish to consider where we have to go for food and other goods and services that we may or may not be able to do without.
2.Leave the driving to them.
Since cars are everywhere, and we Americans are likely not to give them up readily, one possibility is to minimize gas usage by applying a computerized system that will control the flow of traffic by controlling your car in highly congested areas. It may be worth it to retrofit our streets and vehicles in order to implement this automated system of traffic control, because the human being may well be the most inefficient part of an automobile. Once more, the savings in time and energy would be demonstrable.
3.Mass transit revisited—giving us something to work with.
There is a general consensus amongst we American types that mass transit simply doesn’t fit our needs. Typically, we want to go from point A to point B, and the train, bus, or rickshaw doesn’t seem to want to go when we want to. Mass transit doesn’t work for the United States; the country that put a man on the moon, pioneers medical research, and continues to lead the way in so many ways. For us, mass transit doesn’t work. Please! Ill conceived and hastily drawn plans don’t work, but mass transit does and can work.
Perhaps the task of such infrastructure is too much for us, in which case we might hire Japanese or German engineers to design a system for us. Mass transit is working for them, so we could ask them how it does that, if we truly can’t solve it for ourselves.
The real problem for us, as we develop networks of trains, bus routes, and shuttle operations, is to make sure there are lots of ways of getting places. Is it as convenient as a car? No. But it can still work at a much higher level of efficiency than what most cities are enjoying.
It takes a commitment by the people in order to be very effective. The people have to be inclined to vote for it, and then they have to commit to using it as well. And what about all those bicycles in the Netherlands? Readily available bicycles might save us all some dreaded walking between bust stops and train stops, allowing us to retain a respectable amount of obesity.
4.Building a net zero energy use home and some other insane ideas.
There are still folks on the northern hemisphere who think the use of solar energy is hogwash. That said, there is such a thing as a home that requires little or no outside power, and can actually sell power to the utility company. It is a little like being paid to burn the lights. Such houses result from careful and deliberate planning using considerations like orientation to the sun (like the ancient Greeks did) or whether to create a heat sink.
As if in direct opposition to that, there are still many thousands (possibly millions) of home starts every year using the same cheaper but consumptive methods. Most builders have not really heard or responded to the crisis at our doorstep. Low-E glass and R-30 insulation in the ceiling is their best response when much more effective methods are now available to us. So, the next time you are taking a side road and seeing another "ranch" full of hundreds of homes going up, just envision building more power plants and using more fuel. What I envision is a zero net loss of energy, not only with homes, but with businesses as well. Perhaps revolving doors can have miniature generators that will contribute to a building’s energy needs. Perhaps escalators can have these as well, and instead of riding up, people can help generate power for other parts of the building. Many of us walk up the escalators anyway. Certainly, the flat roof on top of most commercial buildings makes an inviting place to install solar arrays.
5.Yes Nukes, unfortunately.
We will have to get more of our power from nuclear power plants, a source of energy that doesn’t contribute so much carbon dioxide, and will be more stable than oil for energy demands. While nuclear fusion would be ideal, fission will have to do for now.
6.Observe the rhythms of nature
There was a time not so long ago when women and men got their work accomplished during the daylight hours, and got their sleeping accomplished during the dark hours in a day. Maybe we could be a bit more like our predecessors in that mannerism.
So there you have it: trade in your Humvee for a hybrid, live where you shop and work, ride busses and trains more often, and support alternative energy programs. Even after we all make those efforts—either by choice, scarcity of supply, or government edict—we are still going to have to deal with the problem of weaning ourselves away from a non-renewable energy source. Nevertheless, some inconveniences now can buy us some precious time to work on that.
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"Be on my side, I'll be on your side. There is no reason for us to hide." --Neil Young
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