Let's talk about officials asking people to cut fuel use.... - Belle of the Ranch

[TexasTowelie]

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about officials asking people to cut fuel use.

The International Energy Agency has put out guidance for people who want to do a bit to reduce demand and help keep prices under control. We'll go over the advice, but it's worth noting that these are the kinds of things that start as suggestions and then turn into requirements if the crisis continues for an extended period or the supply becomes even shorter due to destroyed energy facilities.

IEA executive director Fatih Birol said “as the global energy authority the IEA is doing everything we can to support the stability of energy markets. We have recently launched the largest ever release of IEA emergency oil stocks and I am in close contact with key governments around the world including major energy producers and consumers as part of our international energy diplomacy.

In addition to this, today's report provides a menu of immediate and concrete measures that can be taken on the demand side by governments, businesses, and households to shelter consumers from the impacts of this crisis. It draws on the IEA's decades of expertise in this field and highlights measures that have been proven to work in practice in different contexts. I believe it will be of use to governments around the world in both advancing and developing economies in these challenging times.”

We're going to go over the recommendations even though Americans are unlikely to adopt them on mass. There's more than this, but these are the ones most applicable to the average person. Okay, so here are the recommendations.

One, work from home where possible. Obviously, if a bunch of people weren't driving, demand is less. That one is self-explanatory.

Two, reduce highway speed limits by at least 10 kilometers per hour. That's about 6 miles an hour. I would also add not flooring it to get up to the speed limit. It reduces fuel consumption.

Three, encourage public transport. In the US, this is funny. This push has been ongoing for years, but maybe elevated gas prices will encourage it.

Four, using license plates numbers to give or deny access to roads in large cities on different days--plates that end in even numbers on Mondays, odd on Tuesdays kind of thing. This isn't really something the average person can do, but it's also probably how gas would be rationed as well if it ever came to that.

Five, increase car pooling.

Six, promote efficient driving for commercial vehicles to save on diesel, better load optimization, better driving practices, stuff like that.

Seven, avoid air travel if other options exist. You should probably be doing that anyway right now because you can walk to where you're going in a shorter time than it takes to get through the line.

Eight, encourage cooking with electric. This only works if your electric isn't from gas. So for this to work and move the needle or the gas price at all, it would need widespread adoption. While that seems unlikely in the US until gas gets much higher, it's worth going over these because if Trump can't find his way out of this mess soon, a lot of these suggestions will become mandatory.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.

[sheshe2]

1. # 9

TSF can stop his trips to FLA every weekend. The flight and his entourage of 30(?) cars are guzzling gas by the barrel. The there are the dozen or so golf carts that follow him around the course so he can cheat at golf.