Can we grow our economies but still decrease energy use?

[1]

The answer to this question is ever so simple, with the straight answer being efficiency.The United States prides themselves on over consumption of engery.

 

 Figure 1: Energy Consumption [2]

 

Figure 2: Energy Efficiency [2]

As one can can see, the United States is number one in energy consumption while trailing very far behind in energy efficiency. This proves that the only way possible to still grow our economy while decreasing energy use is to have a drastic change for the better in our energy efficiency.

Figure 3: GDP and Energy Consumption [3]

As displayed in figure 3 it is shown that our economy in terms of GDP has greatly been on the rise over the past 50 years while the energy consumption has also been on the rise but in a much slower fashion. This proves that GDP and energy consumption are not in direct correlation. So, therefore becoming more efficient and actually getting on a decreasing energy consumption trend while still being on a rising economy trend is essentially very possible. 

[1] http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/directory/u/us_energy_consumption_gifts.asp

[2] http://secondlawoflife.wordpress.com/2007/05/17/energy-consumption-and-gdp/
[3]http://www.pewclimate.org/global-warming-basics/facts_and_figures/fig18.cfm