several. Clearly, major investments are required to 

 make discernible progress in sustained use of forests 

 and water management and quality. At the other 

 extreme, given the present sizable U.S. investments in 

 remote sensing and coal technology, a rather modest 

 additional expenditure could easily help extend these 

 activities to developing countries. Further, the scope 

 and complexity of energy problems warrant substantial 

 funding, whereas the problems of marine resources and 

 pesticides are more specialized and the absorptive 

 capacity of the international system is limited. 



OPPORTUNITIES AND PROPOSED INITIATIVES 



1 . Comprehensive Planning in Energy Development 

 and Utilization 



During the past few years , most nations have been 

 forced to reexamine their use of energy, to assess 

 patterns of supply, to project future demand, and to 

 evaluate plans for national energy use in the future. 



Within the United states, this assessment is 

 occurring at both the national and state levels, often 

 with the help of industry and the academic community. 

 One interesting finding has been that major differences 

 exist in energy use and supply profiles among different 

 states, sometimes even between adjacent states, and 

 that significantly different policies are necessary 

 from one state to another. 



Similarly, most developing countries need to assess 

 their own national energy picture before setting 

 national policies related to energy. This is best done 

 at the national level although, as in the United 

 States, important regional differences will need to be 

 examined. 



Energy, mainly in the form of oil and gas, 

 constitutes a large part of the imports of many 

 developing countries, and severe balance-of -payment 

 problems continue to mount because of the rising cost 

 of these imports. At the same time, pressure on 

 traditional sources of energy has grown rapidly. 

 Firewood and charcoal for cooking have become a major 

 expense for rural households and their use is 

 presenting severe deforestation problems (see , for 

 example, NRC 1976) . The energy needed for even a 

 modest standard of living has become hard to obtain, 

 and that needed for transportation, small industry, and 

 agriculture has become quite expensive. 



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