Hijexx wrote:
http://www.fcnp.com/519/peakoil.htm

Britian is looking at plans for rationing energy consumption. The personal market, where you can sell your unused energy units, is an interesting twist.

This is essentially the same as the system the US uses for pollution control in factories. Each factory is given carbon credits that are traded in a market, creating a direct financial incentive for pollution control measures.

England's system has an interesting wealth redistribution effect to it in that individuals that don't travel frequently could sell their carbon units for cash. This is slightly different then the effect on factories which all have a builtin need to pollute and can only avoid it by spending money on cleaning technology. Whereas the US system creates the incentive to build clean factories, this english version would pay people to not travel. It seems like a fuel tax would make more sense, but perhaps this is more politically palitable as for most people it will seem as if the government is giving them money rather then taking it away.

RE: Energy Rationing Plans in Britain