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Study focuses on saving gasoline
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C&EN Nov. 18, 1974
ting into water supplies in the first place. Meanwhile, at the 10th Midwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Iowa City, Iowa, scientists disclosed for the first time the extent of amphibole asbestos fiber (a known carcinogen) contamination of Lake Superior. Dr. Billy Fairless of EPA's Region V office in Chicago told attendees that "about 2000 square miles of the lake are estimated to be polluted by these fibers." Municipalities that line the shore of Lake Superior use it for their drinking water, and this is of concern to medical authorities. Dr. William J. Nicholson of Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City estimates, for example, that the amount of fibers ingested by people in the Duluth, Minn., area over a period of 15 to 17 years can be as great as that which workers inhale in occupational exposure situations. Source of the asbestos fibers is the daily dumping of about 67,000 tons of taconite tailings into Lake Superior by a mining operation at Silver Bay, Minn. Just southwest of Silver Bay, EPA scientists have found 12.4 million asbestos fibers per liter of water, but levels drop off at more distant points.
Reports on studies dealing with various aspects of the energy situation continue to issue. In one of the latest, Rand Corp. says that the only way the U.S. can reduce gasoline consumption significantly within the next four years, short of rationing, is to increase its price. However, in the longer run, beyond eight years, improvements in new car fuel economy through weight reduction and better engine and transmission performance offer greater potential than do methods other than very high taxes. The year-long study by the Santa Monica, Calif., research group is part of a continuing research program to evaluate measures for conserving energy being carried out under a grant from the National Science Foundation. For the study, Rand devised an econometric model of demand for motor fuel and a generalized model for comparing automobile design approaches to improved fuel economy. The study doesn't make recommendations but analyzes policies for their implications. For example, it finds that annual gasoline savings achieved by adding taxes of 15, 30, and 45 cents per gallon would amount to 16, 34, and 40% by 1980. But, it notes, because options for saving gasoline would have varied social, economic, and environmental impacts, some combination of policies may be more effective than single approaches, depending on national conservation objectives.
