Crude oil was formed by nature in the past over many million years. It is one of the most precious and important substances mankind is blessed with. Crude oil is used not only for fuel but also for power generation, heating and for producing lots of useful things, even fertilizers. We have now consumed a great part of it in relatively short time without regard to the fact that this is a finite resource! Have we already reached peak oil? I don’t know, but it is possible.

Demand of crude oil is expected to increase every year in the foreseeable future (as long as the global economy keeps growing), mainly due to progressive industrialization in developing countries. Can crude oil supply keep pace? I doubt it. More demand relative to supply means higher prices, not only for fuel and heating but for many other things, even for our food! And a runaway inflation can cause a financial depression with high jobless rates and other nasty things. Many people may even lose their home.

Does anybody care? Perhaps not that much, otherwise people would behave wiser, e.g. try to decrease the demand of crude oil by buying a smaller, more fuel-efficient car, use public transport when they can, don’t drive so much etc. Only a small proportion of oil products should be used for transport, heating and power generation. Would this be possible? I think so, if there is the political will. One thing is certain, if we don't curb the demand for crude oil, the world will one day run out of this precious substance, and we will leave our descendants a miserable world. They may curse us for our selfish behaviour.

By the way, a visitors of my website mentioned the zero point energy  (zp.energy.com), the orgone energy (orgone.org) and the stirling engine (stirlingengine.com and ltd.stirling.de). I have looked at the websites and regard them as very interesting. If we can harness the zero point energy and the orgone energy and develop the stirling engine further, we may be able to save lots of crude oil and other precious fuel and can then also reduce CO2 emission into our atmosphere.

In the following I will briefly suggest some concepts and rough ideas about how to reduce consumption of crude oil considerably. I would be happy to help anybody with providing more ideas and concepts including preparing a detailed plan as described on my web page World Problems .

Ideas and concepts for solving the problem

1. Don’t drive to work

Millions of people drive to work every morning and return in the afternoon, often being on the road for hours, wasting their time, getting stressed, using up precious fuel and polluting the air! Is this really necessary? I think probably not for many people with certain kinds of office jobs. They should be able to do their work from home, correspond with their employer by e-mail, fax and/or video connection. Their employer can even pay for furnishing their small office spaces in their homes and may save a lot of rent to pay for then needing only a smaller than normal office in the city or town. From time to time a videoconference can be carried out between employer and employees if they need to have a meeting. Because of this, they may only rarely meet in person.
Of course, a prerequisite for the above concept is that people have fast broadband connection. But this would be a relatively small price to pay for the huge benefit for all.

2. Have a work-free day in the week

The current normal working time in many countries is already down to 35-40 hours per week. Employees who need to drive to work for their personal presence should be allowed to work only four days per week for the required working hours. They can then take turns for keeping up a smooth business operation. - This concept would also get many cars off the road.

3. Give rebates for ‘green’ cars

People who buy fuel-efficient cars should get rebates from their government at the time of purchase, paid from the environment fund, as mentioned under ‘Global Warming’. The less fuel the car uses, the higher the rebate. This would probably give the buyers strong incentives to get ‘green’. Of course, buying hybrid cars would then be even more attractive, and they may cost less than usual cars.

4. Move most wares in containers by rail

This idea is basically not new. But I suggest the following concepts:

1. Connect all cities and major towns with a net of railways/railroads for electric freight trains, thereby including (and only upgrading) existing lines.
2. Establish solar and/or wind power stations in suitable locations along the lines, feeding the generated electricity into the net for powering the trains.
3. Make products container-friendly as far as possible and only transport containers, vehicles and goods that can be handled quickly.
4. Transport containers in their destination areas by trucks of different sizes (suitable to the kind of wares) to the warehouses or shops.
5. Certain trucks should be able to drive directly onto the carriages (or be lifted onto them) and get off in or near their destination area.

Truck drivers, not needed any more, can be trained as engine drivers. A few carriages for people can be added to the trains, depending on demand.

The above concepts would get most trucks off the long-distance roads, save huge amounts of fuel, reduce CO2 emissions overall and keep the roads in better condition for longer times without need to repair them so often.

5. Reduce energy loss by friction

All things, when moving against each other, cause friction, even when lubricated by oil or other lubricants. During this process, kinetic energy is converted into heat and lost forever, even with liquids moving in pipes. Put together, the global daily energy loss is huge! If not yet done, science should be looking for new substances or ways to reduce frictions, perhaps for finding new kinds of lubricants or new coatings by applying nano-technology.

6. Improve designs of thermal solar and wind power stations
I wonder whether the current designs of thermal solar and wind power stations are the cheapest and most efficient ones. It should be possible to find better designs, the search for them being assisted by computer modelling and later by building prototypes of selected designs. I think that scientific research on these matters will pay handsomely in the end, since the current and prospective market for these kinds of renewable energy is huge!

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