Energy Conservation Through Land Use Planning

"The initiation of a policy of energy efficient land use planning is a difficult proposition since it requires a long term commitment and there are relatively few immediate returns as there are for example, when you "turn off the lights". As a result, a, strategy for energy conservation through land use planning did not become immediately significant after the "oil crisis" in 1973"--Preface.

This report review recent literature on energy conservation through land-use planning.

The development of alternative forms of energy supply since the mid-1970s has brought with it a range of new issues and concerns, ranging from nuclear waste disposal to land use planning for energy efficiency. This latest volume in the acclaimed Energy Policy Studies series brings together an interdisciplinary group of researchers to examine the relationship between energy and planning policy, with emphasis on urban and regional impacts.Like other volumes in the series, the articles included focus on the social, political, and economic dimensions of energy technology, resources, and use. The emphasis on issues of technological scale, resource allocation, environmental impact and quality, and urban and regional studies makes this a unique contribution to the literature.Contents: "Creating Land-Energy Transitions," by Andrew F. Huston, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; "Land Use Planning for Energy Efficiency," by Susan E. Owens, Cambridge University; "Nuclear Waste Landscapes," by Barry Solomon, U.S. Energy Information Administration; "Economic Development, Growth and Land Use Planning in Oil and Gas Producing Regions," by Robert L. Mansell, University of Calgary; "The Land Use Focus of Energy Impacts," by M. J. Pasqualetti, Arizona State University; "Energy Use and Land Use," by Stephen Lonergan, McMaster University; and a concluding essay by J. Barry Cullingworth, University of Delaware.

"As the price and unreliability of energy supply increases, so too do the disadvantages of its inefficient use. Since it is cheaper and less environmentally disruptive to save energy than to produce it, many Canadians have begun to recognize that conservation must play a major role in any energy policy designed to achieve self-sufficiency"--Executive summary.