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ways forward 341Waiting their ChanceEnormous reserves of common sense andingenuity worldwide are awaiting properopportunities to be tapped in the serviceof minimising and coping with climatechange.The great bulk of this shrewdness and inventivenessis of course to be found in theordinary people of the South. But in theNorth as well, huge potential is waiting tobe unblocked.In the US, opportunities for efficiencyabound that can ‘pay for themselves in anextremely short time’, 51 provided that governmentdoes not shy away from regulation.These include control systems thatreduce energy consumption in irrigationsystems by up to 99 per cent, super- adobeconstruction, 52 houses and commercialbuildings that save up to 90 per cent ofheating and cooling costs, ultra-light rail,and so on. The Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change estimates that if gooddesign and insulation were extended globally,greenhouse gas emissions could be cutby up to 40 per cent. 53Zero-carbon housing is already up andrunning in the UK and Germany. WokingBorough Council near London has reducedcarbon emissions in council buildingsand properties by over 77 per centsince 1990 through more localised powersources, financed by energy efficiency savings.Architects Atelier Ten have designeda way of keeping buildings cool withoutair conditioning, using a termite mound astheir model. 54 Even the big corporate sectoris waiting its chance. In Britain, 74 companies’emissions reduction efforts have alreadyyielded usd 11.9 billion in gross savings,largely from efficiency. 55Technological change can be swift, giventhe right context. During the SecondWorld War, it took US car manufacturersonly six months to convert to military production,and the country took only 12 yearsto switch from steam to diesel/electric locomotivesand from uncontrolled automotiveemissions to catalytic conversers. During1975-2000, the US used 3.43 per centless water per year per dollar of GDP, and,during 1977-85, helped by regulation, madevery rapid oil and energy savings. Thanksin part to building and appliance efficiencystandards, per capita electricity use in Californiahas remained virtually flat since themid-1970s, while it has risen by more thanhalf in the rest of the US. 56emissions could be achieved in the UK by 2020 in the all-importantelectricity sector, without any new nuclear power or geo-sequestration,and with a decline in the use of natural gas. 49 As noted in Chapter3, consultant Roger Levett estimates that fuel use in the UK couldbe cut by 87 per cent and carbon-based fuels eliminated altogetherusing existing technologies. Levett points out that ‘near-zero carbon’housing is possible now, without any new technological breakthroughs,together with a 90 per cent reduction in automobile carbonpollution and improvement in the quality of life – provided that the