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Presents a follow up discussion on William Nordhaus' energy resources presentation in this issue. Comments from Henrik Houthakker where he takes issue with Nordhaus' contention that free markets cannot ensure an efficient pattern of resource allocation; Argument of the author; Notes that Nordhaus underestimated the importance of trade in existing assets; Contention that current energy problems stem from interference with free market business; Comments from Robert Solow who believes that research on intermediate technologies is vital; General Discussion within the panel members on the strengths and weakness of the report.

During the last twenty years the gas and electricity industries have come to play an increasingly important role in the British economy and by 1963 these two secondary energy industries were meeting about one-third of the country's total energy demands. During this same period both industries have been subject to changing location forces and it is to an examination of these that this paper is devoted. Many factors are, of course, important in influencing the location of gas works and power stations. One thinks immediately of the size of their markets, the level of interest rates on capital, the load factors of the plants and the like. But above all it is primarily a matter of relative transport costs which influences the orientation and hence the location of secondary energy production. Transport, therefore, along with the changing primary fuel base of the two industries, has a key role to play in this discussion. We shall explore its significance in the gas industry first of all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the allocation of energy resources in the United States. How some are worrying about the exhaustion of petroleum supplies; Discussion of the role of markets for resources; Details on the efficient allocation of energy resources; Recoverable energy resources in the world; Technologies used in processing energy resources; Cost of intermediate energy products without the cost of royalties; Terminal conditions and discount rates or backstop technology; Environmental constraints; Results of the basic case which states there are sufficient energy resources for two hundred years; Exploration of gasoline pricing; Role of foreign trade; Implications for energy policy.

The article reports on the implications of the advent of the Atomic Age on the policies and programs undertaken by the government in Great Britain. The discovery and development of nuclear energy has, in some measure, been influenced by the atomic technology. After the Second World War, Britain has established a sizeable organization concerned with atomic energy. The motive for starting this organization was to develop the experience necessary to exploit the applications of atomic energy. Government support for nuclear physics was deliberate policy. The provision of better financial support was by no means all that was necessary to build up nuclear physics research.