Page 350 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

Ener gy Pr oduction Industries 325

energy will be able to fulfill rising energy demand, and that we will
continue to rely on fossil fuels for the foreseeable future, well into
the twenty-first century. Economic growth, especially in developing
nations such as China and India, will most likely overwhelm any
gains from conservation. As shown in Figure 18.3, North America has
a much higher per capita consumption of energy than the rest of the
world, roughly double the consumption rate of Europe or Japan [2].
Reducing that consumption may require a significant change in life-
styles—smaller homes, fewer vehicle miles, and less flow-through of
consumer merchandise. However, a number of promising technolo-
gies have appeared that will contribute to energy conservation,
including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, energy-efficient appli-
ances, and advanced heating and cooling systems.
Ironically, there were warning signals about global energy secu-
rity several decades earlier. The Arab oil embargo of 1973 prompted
a flurry of investigation into alternative technologies and conser -
vation initiatives. Under President Richard Nixon, the U.S. Federal

FIGURE 18.3 Per capita energy consumption in 2005 for selected
countries [2].