World energy consumption had been consistently increasing at a rate of around 5% to 8% per year prior to the energy crises, after which the demand curve shifted to a much slower rate of growth. Even in the mid-1970s, after the first energy crisis, it was thought that the world would consume 75 million barrels of oil per day in 1985, a level that historically wasn't reached until 2000. Clearly a significant amount of energy was saved due to the transition to a new demand curve following the crises. However, assume that the old energy demand curve had continued for a few more years, avoiding artificial shocks such as embargoes.
What kind of impact would such rampant energy consumption have had on pollution and climate change science, especially with so much additional petroleum consumption, as well as a likely increase in coal consumption?
Also, what about the economy? It's now known that significant savings were achievable at a fairly low cost with simple behavioral, mechanical, and technological changes, and at least as early as the 1980s. What would happen to the economy when demand finally became incapable of keeping up with supply, especially for electricity? Would large numbers of power plants become surplus once people reduced their energy consumption patterns, leading to a large utility crisis? Or might people only make minor changes, since supply and consumption would be starting from a higher level before the onset of an energy crisis?