The Adventures of Chester: Energy Followup Post

So there was quite a bit of great discussion in the two threads on Energy Independence in the last couple of weeks. (See here and here.) Two more thoughts. First, frequent commenter "Papa Ray" sent me this link: China nomads on energy's cutting edge, which is quite an interesting story. Frequent readers may know that I have a burning desire to go to Mongolia one day (at least I think I've mentioned that before). I've often wondered if the nomads there would do well with some sort of rugged electrical production system. Maybe something like this: SkyBuilt Power.

And also, a Loyal Reader sent this comment:

Let's get a little creative in our quest to reduce our consumption of
imported petroleum. Use tactics that cost little or nothing.

If every job that could be accomplished by telecommuting were to be
made so,
for 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 days a week, we'd reduce our consumption
dramatically,
overnight. A distributed workforce is a good thing, in wartime and
peacetime.

For those who can't telecommute, how about changing the workweek? Four
10-hour days instead of five 8-hour days would reduce consumption by up
to
15%.

Road tolls can be increased without taxing gas, increasing car-pooling.

Right turn-on-red, smart traffic signals, enforcement of pedestrian
scofflaws and a myriad other options, in combination could reduce
consumption immediately, by more than 25%, with very small impact on
the
population.

No Manhattan Project (i.e., huge waste of taxpayers' funds) necessary.
Change the rules of the game.

Any thoughts, readers?

Posted by Chester on August 31, 2006 8:26 PM to The Adventures of Chester