RE: Solution to worlds energy problem

["Bradshaw, Keith" <Keith.Bradshaw@nnc.co.uk>]

> It's not the taxation of fossil fuels where I dissagree with you. But I
> doubt
> that maximum amount of energy consumtion / person is a scale for high
> standard
> of living! I also doubt that every buck, euro and especially rubel saved
> by
> energy reducing actiones will be spent for other energy-using activities.
> 
> 
	I thought it was a strange concept when I read it for the first time
also.  But when you mull over how economics works I'm sure you'll start to
agree.  If each device uses energy more efficiently, that does not equate to
an overall reduction in energy usage over the whole of society.  It releases
resources for more activities.

	When you've insulated your house and installed your energy efficient
light bulbs, the money you save might be spent on more trips out in your
car, buying consumer goods which require energy in their manufacture or
having more children.  It's even possible that the energy expenditure of
your home does not actually go down, because you simply enjoy being warmer
in winter and you've got the money to spend on it. (In the UK, one in five
households has no resident wage earner, theres a high proportion of
pensioners, and of those in work, many are poor.  These households do not
have lounges at 20 degrees and bedrooms at 16 degrees in winter.  They
simply can't afford it.  Insulate these households and it does not
necessarily follow that they'll spend less on heating.)

	If you saved the money in the bank, the system would have more money
for investment, interest rates would come down and economic activity (=more
energy use) goes up.  The only way you could prevent this is to stuff the
money in your mattress.  In which case, there's no tangible benefit to you
in insulating your home and fitting energy efficient light bulbs in the
first place.

	As society developed, there's been a steady increase in energy use
per head.  All societies are under pressure to increase GNP per head: that
means investment in machines and infrastructure to get the best output per
individual.

	Personal views only

	keith.bradshaw@nnc.co.uk




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