But until these new systems are developed and deployed, unless you have huge hydroelectric dams like Brazil, or unless you expand geothermal, biomass, and tidal power exponentially overnight, your baseload options are largely limited to fossil fuels and nuclear Encourage Energy Efficiency We could just use less energy Another post-Fukushima scenario sees a greater focus on energy efficiency, and many experts now see energy conservation as perhaps the brightest prospect for reducing energy use and thereby cutting greenhouse gas emissions Buildings account early 40 percent of all energy use and so they could be designed retrofitted to the b ble energy-efficiency standards, particularly in advanced economies Improvements in appliance and vehicle energy efficiency have helped many rich countries stabilize their energy consumption levels, despite increasing wealth Extend those efficiencies to the rest of the world, and we could slash energy wastage. And a carbon price or carbon taxes would certainly help concentrate minds on energy conservation A Bump in the road? Of course, there may be very little Fukushima effect. The backlash could be short-lived, a bump in the road rather than a stop! sign Fukushima may be like the Deepwater Horizon oil platform disaster: prompting delays and safety improvements before resuming business as usual It will depend very much on the particular political and energy supply circumstances of each country. Not all governments will react as negatively as Germany, nor will they be as pro-nuclear In fact, neither of these extremes holds the nuclear balance now: China, India Russia and the United States are the key players deciding whether the worlds energy system becomes more or less atomic. and whether it becomes greener or gassierBut until these new systems are developed and deployed, unless you have huge hydroelectric dams like Brazil, or unless you expand geothermal, biomass, and tidal power exponentially overnight, your baseload options are largely limited to fossil fuels and nuclear. Encourage Energy Efficiency We could just use less energy. Another post-Fukushima scenario sees a greater focus on energy efficiency, and many experts now see energy conservation as perhaps the brightest prospect for reducing energy use and thereby cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Buildings account for nearly 40 percent of all energy use and so they could be designed or retrofitted to the best possible energy-efficiency standards, particularly in advanced economies. Improvements in appliance and vehicle energy efficiency have helped many rich countries stabilize their energy consumption levels, despite increasing wealth. Extend those efficiencies to the rest of the world, and we could slash energy wastage. And a carbon price or carbon taxes would certainly help concentrate minds on energy conservation. A Bump in the Road? Of course, there may be very little Fukushima effect. The backlash could be short-lived, a bump in the road rather than a STOP! sign. Fukushima may be like the Deepwater Horizon oil platform disaster: prompting delays and safety improvements before resuming business as usual. It will depend very much on the particular political and energy supply circumstances of each country. Not all governments will react as negatively as Germany, nor will they be as pro-nuclear as France. In fact, neither of these extremes holds the nuclear balance now: China, India, Russia and the United States are the key players deciding whether the world’s energy system becomes more or less atomic , and whether it becomes greener or gassier