The Growing Demand for Energy

Ronald D. Doctor

ResearchPublished 1972

An examination of the causes and consequences of the growing demand for energy, especially electricity, in the United States. In the 1960s, the U.S. per capita consumption of energy increased 2.7 percent annually, due to growing affluence as well as growing population. In fact, the per capita consumption of energy is now increasing more than twice as fast as population. Due to the scarcity of fossil fuel resources, the current unavailability of other sources of energy, environmental problems, and our inability to finance and build the necessary facilities fast enough, we may have to devise voluntary and legal methods of reducing the rate of growth in demand for energy. To do so, we must have improved methods of forecasting demand and identifying the primary causes of demand. Correlation methods relating consumption to determinants of use are more satisfactory than extrapolation methods projecting future growth as a continuation of past growth.

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  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Available
  • Year: 1972
  • Print Format: Paperback
  • Paperback Pages: 27
  • Paperback Price: $20.00
  • Document Number: P-4759

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Doctor, Ronald D., The Growing Demand for Energy, RAND Corporation, P-4759, 1972. As of September 18, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P4759.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Doctor, Ronald D., The Growing Demand for Energy. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1972. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P4759.html. Also available in print form.
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