WASHINGTON — The U.S. can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and its dependence on foreign oil by making cars and buildings much more energy efficient, according to a study released Tuesday by a large national association of physicists.
The 46,000-member American Physical Society argues the need for action is urgent because the energy crisis is the worst in U.S. history. It also says that the physics and chemistry behind the human causes of climate change — such as heat-trapping pollution from the burning of fossil fuels — is “well understood and beyond dispute.”
The report argues that the country can still go a long way to reduce energy use in cost-effective ways that allow for continued comfort and convenience.
Although efficient energy technologies can save money, the U.S. has been slow to catch on, the report says. It recommends that the federal government adopt policies and make investments. “The opportunities are huge and the costs are small,” the report said.
The report concludes that the projected growth of energy use in buildings — 30 percent by 2030 — could be cut to zero using existing technology and what’s likely to become available in the next decade at the current level of research and development.
Some of the report’s suggestions included installing roofs that reflect rather than absorb the sun’s energy in hot climates; more efficient heating, cooling, lighting and appliances; and more government investment in research and development in building technologies.
Consumers would have to pay to install the technology, but they would save money in the long run, the report said.
On transportation, a key recommendation is more federal government investment in developing cheaper and more reliable batteries for electric cars.
“If you look at magically converting the whole fleet to plug-in hybrids” that get 40 miles per charge, greenhouse gases would be reduced by 33 percent and gasoline use by 60 percent, said Burton Richter, the chairman of the study panel and a 1976 Nobel Prize winner in physics.
That would be the equivalent of cutting oil imports by 6 million barrels a day, he said. That’s the amount the U.S. imports from OPEC out of a total of about 13.5 million barrels imported a day from all countries.
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