Energy independence: what we can do

As we commemorate another U.S. Independence Day, it’s easy to forget how long we’ve been threatened by dependence on foreign oil, and how the trend has for the most part gotten worse, not better.

Back in the 1970’s, when the first oil crisis hit, concern over reliance on foreign oil spiked, along with the price of gas. Jimmy Carter donned a sweater, told us to conserve, and we started trading in our behemoth, V8-powered sedans and station wagons for something smaller. It’s easy to forget that back in the early 1970s, we only imported about 30 percent of our oil needs, as shown in this chart from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, things actually improved. We started driving more fuel efficient vehicles, lowered the speed limit on highways, and took a first cut at energy conservation measures in many homes and businesses. But we became complacent once gas prices stabilized and dropped. By the mid-80s, we raised speed limits, started buying and building SUVs, and didn’t pressure politicians to change energy policies.

We know the rest of this story all too well. And while the chart shown here only goes up until the late 1990s, according to the EIA, the trend hasn’t gotten better. For 2007, notes EIA, the U.S. imported about 58 percent of the petroleum products it consumed. The question begged by these sorry statistics, of course, is what can we do about it?

Energy efficiency is a sure-fire way to reduce dependence on foreign oil. After all, there is no need to build a new national energy grid, or figure out where to stash a lot more radioactive waste, to conserve energy. U.S. manufacturers have actually been leaders in energy efficiency. According to a paper on energy efficiency by the National Association of Manufacturers, over the past 30 years, energy intensity, the amount of energy it takes to produce one dollar of goods, has been cut in half, from 9.13 thousand Btu in 1970 to 4.32 thousand in 2003. Roughly half of this reduction in energy intensity stems from energy efficiency improvements, according to NAM.

But manufacturers can always do more. When I talk manufacturing experts on energy efficiency, top tactics that come up include:

• Walk throughs to spots areas for improvements, such as installing lighting control systems.
• Improving the use of compressed air equipment and systems. Just stopping leaks, or powering down systems in between use, can save significant energy.
• Use of variable speed drives and variable speed motors.
• Better insulation and building projects. While state-of-the art green buildings with solar panels just aren’t affordable or practical in many cases, there are many measures that can be considered. Rockwell Automation, for example, is saving energy because it put a white roof on one of its facilities in Mexico, and a reflective coating on the roof of another site in Mexico.

Manufacturers might in some cases be able to take advantage of federal stimulus funds for energy efficiency, or incentives from utility companies such as Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). Ultimately, manufacturing enterprises may need or choose to do more than simple conservation, such as installing gear for the co-generation of energy from on-site processes, moving to use of renewable energy for equipment or vehicles, or redesigning products and processes to save energy. But simple conservation is a great place to start, and immediately reduces energy demand and thereby, makes it easier to cut our reliance on foreign oil.