Can we get smart fast in an oil crunch?

As political turmoil continues to rage across oil-producing regions in the Middle East and Northern Africa and the price of Brent crude climbs past $115 a barrel, now might be a good time to look at how we could speed up the transition to a smarter, more energy efficient society.

Organisations from the US military to the UK Industry Task Force on Peak Oil and Energy Security have released a number of reports in recent years arguing for the need for smart energy grids, renewables and conservation. While advances are taking place in these areas, the changes are occurring on a long-term basis. But what if we need to — or are forced to — make that change far more quickly? What sorts of smart (and dumb) measures could help reduce our fossil-fuel demands dramatically, and fast?

Following are several strategies that could help:

• A mobility makeover: Road transport — both cars and trucks — accounts for the vast majority of our oil consumption, so this would be the first place to start. Governments would have to take the lead here, mandating quick implementation of everything from congestion pricing and car-pooling to tradable energy quotas and petrol rationing. Individuals and businesses could also do their part by putting a stop to car idling, switching over to telecommuting wherever possible and converting vehicles from petrol to liquefied natural gas. (The last measure’s not cheap, but is readily doable and could prove well worth it if oil moves deeper into triple-digit territory.) Limiting air travel and shipping more goods by rail rather than trucks would also save on oil consumption.
• A Victory Garden redux: Great Britain did it during World War II, Cuba did it after the fall of the Soviet Union — growing more food locally. Today’s industrial-style agriculture might be highly productive, but it’s also highly oil-intensive, thanks to fossil-fuel-based fertilisers and mechanised farming practices. And then there’s the footprint of food shipping: an estimated average of 1,500 miles from farm to plate. Every additional pound of home-grown produce would mean oil saved across the supply chain.
• An end to oil heating: In places like the Northeastern US and Northern Ireland, many people still rely on heating oil for their homes … a fact that contributed to staggeringly high energy bills this past winter. In a sudden oil crunch, governments could move quickly to help such homeowners convert to natural-gas heating, as natural gas is — for now, anyway — cheaper, more abundant and more readily available from sources closer to home than is oil.

How much of a dent could such measures make quickly? A lot would depend on how well formulated and enforced strategies are, but with gasoline, diesel and jet fuel accounting for around 85 per cent of US petroleum use as of 2010, the savings could be considerable.

Considering the current global state of affairs, governments looking to become more energy- and technology-savvy in years to come would be wise to also have an emergency smart-city plan in place today.