Reaching for Fuel-Saving Ideas

Who's taken the lead in conservation ? Business people

The initials B.T.U. stand for British thermal unit, the basic measurement of heat in a given amount of energy. But to more and more business people, the letters are coming to mean something else --Better Tighten Up.

Much of the public continues to behave as if there were a constitutional mandate to expend energy; the nation will burn nearly 4% more oil this year than in 1977. But this trend is being countered in a notable way by some corporate consumers, who are discovering that saving fuel is just about the simplest way to cut costs and boost profits.

While conservation alone cannot solve the nation's energy problems, it is essential to any solution, and the experience of industry is dramatic evidence of just how much can be done. Ever since the 1973 oil embargo, companies have been not only determinedly turning off lights and turning down thermostats but also redesigning buildings, installing energy-saving devices on assembly lines and driving the conservation message home to employees. The economical use of power at the plant or office is bound to carry over to a heightened energy consciousness for workers at home. Last year, when the economy grew at a rate of nearly 5%, industrial use of energy increased only 1%.

The saving to business, which Department of Energy officials estimate to be nearly $3 billion since 1974, is the result of a variety of conservation ideas. While some companies have been experimenting with various alternative sources of energy, most of the immediate gains have come from simple conservation steps or the application of proven available technology. Some of the measures taken have been as sophisticated as the elaborate computer system that Burlington Industries, the big textile firm, has installed to regulate the use of electricity in 20 of its 99 plants. Others are as uncomplicated as the discovery by General Motors that it could save $1,576 a year in electricity bills merely by removing the fluorescent bulbs in its shop-floor vending machines. North Carolina's Sanford Brick and Tile Co. (350 employees) is taking advantage of the mountains of sawdust discarded by nearby furniture factories: it is combining the sawdust with either natural gas or diesel fuel to cut the cost of firing its baking kilns.

In a number of companies, energy consciousness has practically become a corporate religion. Three examples:

A T & T. In the past five years Ma Bell's business has grown by 44%, but its energy use has dropped 10%. Tiny electronic devices known as microprocessors, which are being installed to replace mechanical switching devices throughout the system, are proving to be considerable energy savers. To cut heating costs, the ceilings of office buildings are being fitted with special ducts that capture and then recycle the heat thrown off from electric typewriters, copying machines and even office workers (who radiate as much heat as 100-watt light bulbs). Though there are 7% more phone-company cars and trucks (total: 177,000) on the road than in 1973, gasoline consumption has been cut by 3%, in large part simply by teaching employees to use economical driving skills.

Raytheon Co. Since 1973, the electronics company's business has grown 75%, to $2.8 billion annually, but its use of fuel oil, natural gas and electricity has been cut by about 25%. Automatic shut-off timers have been installed on everything from coffee makers to light switches in corridors. Any worker who wanders off leaving a piece of factory machinery running gets a large Day-Glo orange "energy conservation ticket" slapped on his equipment by company inspectors, who are constantly on the prowl for offenses.

TRW Inc. Sales of the diversified Cleveland-based maker of auto components, electronic and electrical equipment have nearly doubled since 1972, to $3.3 billion, but energy consumption has declined by 19%. Unnecessary machine runs have been eliminated; the number of ventilating fans cut by a quarter; and air conditioning is now reduced an hour before some plants close.

Workers are rewarded financially for energy-saving ideas and division managers now have to make quarterly "energy use forecasts," just as they do for sales, profits and capital-spending projections. Says Vice President Pierce Angell: "Energy accounted for 4% of our company's production costs in 1972, but by 1985 it could be as high as 15%. That's a damned critical thing."

Industry's new energy stinginess is one of the few bright spots in the nation's struggle to adjust to a world of rising petroleum costs. Although oil imports were down 13% in the first half of 1978, that was only the temporary result of some special factors, including the start of the flow of Alaskan oil.

Imports are expected to pick up rapidly during the rest of this year and reach new records in 1979, above last year's peak of 8.7 million bbl. a day. These projections have not been lost on the OPEC nations. Although they agreed to continue the cost of crude oil at its present $13 per bbl. when they last met in June, there have been signals from OPEC oil ministers that they may meet again as early as next month to jack up the price about 5%. To the present $42 billion cost of the U.S.'s annual oil imports, that would add $2 billion.

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