Energy — the ability to work — is essential to our economic welfare, productivity and our living standards. Before the recent oil embargo, it was said that a gallon of oil (or its equivalent in other forms of energy) provides power for the economic activity associated with two dollars of gross national product. However, the raw material cost of that oil at the point of production was only 7 percent of this gross national product value.
In the aftermath of the embargo, there is grave concern that the United States will become overly dependent on imports of oil, and will not be able to meet its energy requirements without which the nation will see its national income drop sharply. Unfortunately we share this energy predicament with most industrialized countries. Primary sources such as hydro power, petroleum, natural gas, solid coal, and uranium are insufficient to meet future demands of the World economy, unless other primary nonfossil fuel can be developed.
The uses of energy also have some adverse environmental impacts associated with generation of energy (oil drilling, coal mining, water storage) , delivery (oil spills, transmission lines, exhaust fumes), and misapplications (glare, noise, debris). In large part, the adverse side effects are a sign of inefficiency. Environmental enhancement will gain as efficiencies improve, as technology develops new sources, such as hydrogen or solar sources, and as customers accept the higher costs of cleaner fuels, such as synthetic gas
