OIL SAVINGS: 680,000 B/D

But there are two types of conservation: One that cuts into the fat, the other that cuts into the muscle. (A third cuts into the brain: Ralph Nader let it be known some time ago that he bought a manual rather than an electric typewriter to conserve energy. His heroic act saves the country a teaspoon of oil every two months.)

Better thermal insulation of buildings and homes cuts the fat (and can do so quite appreciably). But the type of ideological economics promoted by the no-growthers cuts into the muscle (see Dr. Felix' paper mentioned in the "initiative" items.)

A year ago, no magazine could hope to be "with it" without glorifying A Time to Choose and similar poppycock. But none has even noted the recent publication of a fundamentally significant report by the National Energy Project (of the Am. Enterpr. Inst.), the Energy Industrial Center Study.

First, the technical aspects. Roughly two thirds of the energy used for electric power generation is lost as waste heat. In theory, some of it can be recouped by "bottoming cycles," or it can be used for heating greenhouses, nearby homes, etc. But that requires large capital investments for low-efficiency projects, and besides, how many uses can one find for the wagging tail of a dog?

But what the NEP study group found was an enormous tail already usefully wagging; and it proposes to put a little dog in front of it. The wagging tail: industrial process steam, which accounts for no less than 17% of the country's consumption of primary fuels. (By comparison, residential use accounts for only 12.9%, and commercial for only 9.5%). This is the steam used in the chemical, metallurgical, and a hundred other industries. The dog: Make the steam a little hotter and use it to generate electric power. Then use the steam leaving the back-pressure turbine for the same purpose as before.

At first sight, the idea may look silly: What difference does it make to energy consumption whether the fuel for electric power is burned by a utility or by the Bellybutton Co?

A lot. The Bellybutton Co would add the extra energy at the top of the temperature range, and when the steam leaves the turbine, it does the same work as today. When it leaves the turbine at the utility, much of its energy is is simply rejected as heat to the environment. Actually, the thermodynamics are not quite as simple, but that is the main idea. The result is more electricity for less fuel than the utility would have to burn.

What the EIC Study proposes is not merely electric power for self-sufficiency of the plant, but excess capacity for sale of power to the utilities during peak demand periods. The main attraction would be economic (see below), but in fuel conservation alone, the proposal would, by 1985, cut fuel use by the equivalent of a staggering 680,000 barrels of oil per day.

On top of what Ralph's typewriter is saving.