Energy Conservation by Industrial and Commercial Users: Two Surveys

Industrial and commercial energy consumption is about 55 per cent of the U. S. total, but conservation efforts in those sectors have rarely been studied, and there are widely conflicting reports of their effectiveness. This study analyzed 133 published accounts of individual companies energy conservation and concluded that they showed relatively good savings for most industries and excellent savings for commercial and public buildings. To check on the representativeness of these published accounts, a regional survey study was conducted by interviewing high-level officials of fifty-four Southern California chemical companies, chosen as a stratified random sample. Though many of the smaller companies had not conducted conservation efforts, companies of all sizes which had done so estimated average energy savings of 7 per cent or more per year--an encouraging level. However, due to rising production, total energy use is not declining, and strenuous additional conservation efforts are essential.