Search

The article reports on the impact of lighting standards in national energy consumption. It discusses the criticisms posed on the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) illumination standards for requiring above level quantities in the installation of lighting systems considering that increase in illumination levels results in increased energy consumption. It presents a background of the IES, its functions and the growth of illumination levels it recommends and discusses the conflict of interest between the IES committees and electric power industries in the setting of illumination standards.

The article presents a feasibility of a policy on the improvement in the efficiency of use of energy that involves minimal change of the present life-style. The policy aims to make a major contribution to the solution of energy problem by effective utilization. It states that energy consumption has been increasing faster that the population and growing faster than the gross national product. It offers an overview of the energy consumption in the areas of industrial, residential, commercial and transportation.

The article discusses the environmental hazards brought about by the electricity generating plants that give-off sulfur oxide pollutants in the U.S. The author enumerates the effects on the environment of sulfur oxide pollutants and gives proposals for its prevention. He agrees with the conservationists that the increase in electric power consumption should be curtailed, but as an engineer, he hopes for the development of more efficient uses of electricity. When planning for power generating plants, management must look for areas presently served by electric utilities and adopt planning concepts that will help meet the electric power requirements and minimize adverse effects on the environment.

The author presents an analysis of the effects on total electrification of land transportation. The author considers the possible impact of electric vehicles by assuming the complete electrification of rail and highway transportation. On the other hand, he views the outcome on electric utility industry if all ground transport were electrified. In addition, he reckons an alternative approach of the automotive fuel consumption, which total motor fuel intake in highway use in 1968 was 80.9 billion gallons. Furthermore, the energy content of fuel was equal to 2.96 trillion kilowatt hours, which is twice the actual amount of electricity generated in that year.

The article presents an examination of transportation energy use and conservation. The reasons considered for examining transportation energy consumption are presented, which include the fact that transportation of people and good consumes one-fourth of the total U.S. energy budget. Other reasons are the facts that world oil reserves are limited, U.S. transportation is dependent on oil as a fuel, use of petroleum present environmental problems, and that transportation contributes to urban congestion, inefficient land use and noise.

The article offers a report in connection with the future uses of solar energy. The section includes, reports on the amount and distribution of solar energy in the United States, the principles of solar energy conversion, and the future outlook of solar energy. Reports states that solar energy has been evaluated in terms of fuel values, technical uses, and human needs by various researchers in field of science. It reports that solar energy received by the land area of the United States is 2,000 times greater than the total fuel consumption in the country, without comparing the efficiency of conversion of either energy form.

The article reports on the energy crisis and demolition of the U.S. strength in basic research. President Nixon calls the attention of the scientific community to develop new sources of energy. Energy crisis is a long-term problem that requires long-term solutions and these solutions will come from a set of new ideas. The ideas can be achieved through the development of basic research community of people who understand social needs. A program in finding new energy sources may be conducted to review the possible use of solar energy.