SAUNDERS_Hinrichs

1
Introduction

A. Energy: An Initial Definition F. Oil: A Critical Resource

B. Energy Use and the Environment G. Energy Conservation
Our Earth—Then and Now H. Economic and Environmental
C. Energy Use Patterns Considerations
D. Energy Resources The Kyoto Protocol on Climate
Energy in China Change
E. Exponential Growth and I. Future Scenarios
Resource Depletion The Green Games, 2000

A. Energy: An Initial Definition

Energy is one of the major building blocks of modern society. Energy is needed
to create goods from natural resources and to provide many of the services we
have come to take for granted. Economic development and improved stan-
dards of living are complex processes that share a common denominator: the
availability of an adequate and reliable supply of energy. The modernization of
the West from a rural society to an affluent urban one was made possible
through the employment of modern technology based on a multitude of scien-
tific advances—all of which are energized by fossil fuels. Political events, be-
ginning with an oil embargo in 1973 and continuing through the Iranian
revolution of 1979 and the Persian Gulf War of 1991, made many people aware
of how crucial energy is to the everyday functioning of our society. Long gaso-
line lines and cold winters with natural gas shortages in the 1970s are still

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2 Chapter 1

unhappy memories for some people. The energy crises of the 1970s were al-
most forgotten by the 1980s. However, that decade brought an increased
awareness of our environment. Concerns about global warming, acid rain, and
radioactive waste are still very much with us today, and each of these topics is
related to our use of energy.
While an interest in being energy self-sufficient and producing one’s own
power was a strong desire of some in the 1970s and 1980s, during the second
half of the 1990s the entire public began to have another choice—that of being
able to select their own provider of electricity. The electric power industry
moved away from a traditional, highly regulated industry to one of deregula-
tion and competition. Beginning in 1997, customers were given the chance to
shop for their own supplier —and the bottom line (cost) was not the only crite-
ria. Many people decided to buy from the producer who polluted least, so-
called “green power” alternatives.
Energy pervades all sectors of society—economics, labor, environment, in-
ternational relations —in addition to our own personal lives— housing, food,
transportation, recreation, and more. The use of energy resources has relieved
us from many drudgeries and made our efforts more productive. Humans once
had to depend on their own muscles to provide the energy necessary to do
work. Today our muscles supply less than 1% of the work done in the industri-
alized world.
Energy supplies are key limiting factors to economic growth. We have be-
come a very interdependent world, and access to adequate and reliable en-
ergy resources is central for economic growth. About 40% of the world’s
energy comes from oil, much of which is imported by the industrialized na-
tions and much of which comes from the Persian Gulf. From this region,
Japan imports two thirds of its oil, the United States imports 20% of its oil,
while one third of France’s total oil needs comes from there. If industrialized
nations encounter any significant restriction to their sources of oil, through ei-
ther reduced supplies or large price increases, their economies would suffer
considerable damage.
Your own picture of energy might be colored in many ways by your experi-
ences. You might think of the “energy” (or the lack of it) that a particular person
possesses, or the kinetic energy that a stone gains as it drops, or the energy re-
sponsible for the movement of automobiles, or the energy used in the produc-
tion of heat and light. One dictionary defines energy as the “capacity for
vigorous action; inherent power; potential forces.” Energy is found in many
forms, and one purpose of this book will be to identify them and study how
they can be used. Energy is found in such forms as wind and flowing water,
and stored in matter such as fossil fuels—oil, coal, natural gas—where it can
be burned for “vigorous action.”
Energy might best be described in terms of what it can do. We cannot “see”
energy, only its effects; we cannot make it, only use it; and we cannot destroy it,
only waste it (that is, use it inefficiently). Unlike food and housing, energy is
not valued in itself but for what can be done with it.

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Introduction 3

Energy is not an end in itself (notes Richard Balzhiser, former

president of Electric Power Research Institute). The fundamental
goals we should have in mind are a healthy economy and a healthy
environment. We have to tailor our energy policy as a means to those
ends, not just for this country but in global terms as well.

Energy is a basic concept in all the sciences and engineering disciplines. As

we will discuss in the next chapter, a very important principle is that energy is a
conserved quantity, that is, the total amount of energy in the universe is a con-
stant. Energy is not created or destroyed but just converted or redistributed
from one form to another, such as from wind energy into electrical energy, or
from chemical energy into heat. We will study the various forms of energy —
chemical, nuclear, solar, thermal, mechanical, electrical—and the useful work
that energy is capable of doing for us. We will explore both energy resources
and energy conversion processes.
Understanding energy means understanding energy resources and their
limitations, as well as the environmental consequences of their use. Energy and
environment and economic development are closely linked. Over the past two
decades, global energy consumption has increased by about 25%, while U.S.
consumption increased by 15%. Much of this global growth has been in less-
developed countries. (In the next two decades, estimates are that energy con-
sumption will rise by over 100% in developing nations.) With this growth has
been a decline in urban air quality as well as serious land and water degrada-
tion. Since fossil fuels represent almost 90% of our consumption, we continue
to increase the emissions of carbon dioxide, which may alter the earth’s climate
irreversibly. The proper use of energy requires consideration of social issues as
well as technological ones. Indeed, sustained economic growth in this century,
together with improvements in the quality of everyone’s lives, may be possible
only by the well-planned and efficient use of limited energy resources and the
development of new energy technologies.

B. Energy Use and the Environment

We live in an age of environmental awareness. Politicians would have a hard
time getting elected if they did not at least state they had a concern for the envi-
ronment. The 20th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, 1990, became the
focus of attention for millions of people who wanted to launch a decade of en-
vironmental activism. Many changes in the environment have occurred in the
30 years since the first Earth Day and some are listed in Focus On 1.1, “Our
Earth—Then and Now.”
The 25th anniversary of Earth Day in 1995 focused on the progress made to
improve our air and water quality. In air pollution, smog has declined nation-
ally by about one third since 1970. In 1999, Los Angeles did not record one
ozone reading high enough to trigger a smog alert; 20 years earlier there were

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4 Chapter 1

Focus On 1.1

OUR EARTH—THEN AND NOW

1970 1997

World population 3.3 billion 5.8 billion

103 Tons of lead emitted, United States 204 4
Tons of waste recycled 8 million 49 million
U.S. homes using solar energy 35,000 2 million
Tons of garbage generated annually in United States 121 million 217 million
Percentage of oil imported to United States 23% 56%
Percentage of federal budget spent for environment 3% 1.5%
Atmospheric CO2 concentration (ppM) 325 367
World CO2 emissions, 109 tons/yr 14 23

120 smog alerts in a year. New cars in 1995 emitted about 1% of the pollution
per mile of 1970 model cars! Sulfur dioxide emissions, the primary cause of
acid rain, have fallen by one third since 1970. In 1970, only about one quarter of
our rivers met federal standards for fishing and swimming; in 1995, about 60%
did. These accomplishments did not come about without great efforts. Federal
and state expenditures for pollution abatement and control have risen sharply
since 1970 (to $100 billion per year). However, concerns over federal spending,
the national debt, and the role of the federal government continue to prompt
legislative drives for drastic environmental law reforms and modifications in
regulations affecting clean air and water, toxic waste, pesticides, endangered
species, etc.
The use of our energy resources is one of the major factors affecting the en-
vironment. (Our use of chemicals is another.) Increased use of fossil fuels since
the beginning of the industrial age has increased the carbon dioxide concentra-
tion in the atmosphere by 30%, and has probably also increased the earth’s tem-
perature (Fig. 1.1). Warmer global temperatures can lead to a melting of the
polar ice caps and higher ocean levels, which will force a movement of popula-
tion away from low-lying land near the seas. It can also mean a shift of agricul-
tural areas as precipitation patterns move northward.
Getting rid of our garbage is also an increasingly serious environmental
problem. Americans dispose of almost 4 pounds of garbage per person per
day—that’s about 3 tons per family per year, and twice the rate of disposal by
Europeans. We’re running out of acceptable places to bury our garbage. We
have gone from 14,000 landfills in 1970 to about 3000 today, for more people.

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Introduction 5

0.6 A

from 1850 to 1990 mean

0.4

Temperature deviation
0.2
0
(°C) –0.2
–0.4
–0.6
–0.8
1850 1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990

350 B
340
CO2 concentration
(parts per million)

330
320
310
300
290
280
1850 1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990

1.7 C
1.6
Methane concentration
(parts per million)

1.5
1.4
1.3
1.2
1.1
1
0.9
0.8
1850 1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990

6 × 10 9
D
Annual carbon production

5 × 10 9

4 × 109
(tons)

3 × 109

2 × 109

1 × 109
0
1850 1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990
Year

FIGURE 1.1
Correlation among global temperature change (A), atmospheric carbon
dioxide and methane concentrations (B, C), and annual carbon production
from fossil-fuel burning (D), displayed in order (Houghton, R. A., and G. M.
Woodwell. 1989. Global Climatic Change. Scientific American, April). A more
convincing correlation between carbon dioxide concentrations and the
earth’s temperature over the past 160,000 years is shown in Figure 9.1.

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6 Chapter 1

Do we deal with solid waste by incinerating it (and using the heat for industrial
purposes, to generate electricity, or both) and put only the ash into landfills?
There is a lot of opposition to this approach because of possible air, water, and
thermal pollution. How much of this problem can be solved by recycling, by re-
duced packaging, or by other means?
In each of these examples, tough choices have to be made. If we want to re-
duce the quantity of fossil fuels burned because we’re concerned about global
warming, what substitutes should be made? More solar or nuclear energy? At
what point do we say we’re confident enough to endorse a method for burying
the radioactive wastes generated at nuclear power plants? What can take the
place of gasoline in our cherished autos? Is ethanol made from grain an energy-
efficient substitute? (Today, 10% of the gasoline sold in the United States con-
tains some ethanol, usually made from corn.) Should food be used for fuel,
when people are malnourished? Should solar energy be subsidized to compete
with the less expensive fossil fuels, since we know that our fossil fuel supplies
are finite and that their use causes damage to the environment?

There is an often poorly understood link between ethical choices that

seem quite small in scale and those whose apparent consequences are
very large, and that a conscious effort to adhere to just principles in all
our choices—however small—is a choice in favor of justice in the world.
Both in our personal lives and in our political decisions, we have an
ethical duty to pay attention, resist distraction, be honest with one
another and accept responsibility for what we do—whether as
individuals or together . . . We can believe in the future and work to
achieve it and preserve it, or we can whirl blindly on, behaving as if one
day there will be no children to inherit our legacy. The choice is ours; the
earth is in the balance. Al Gore

C. Energy Use Patterns

Until the 1980s, energy consumption in the world—especially the United
States—had been increasing annually at a rapid rate. Figure 1.2 shows the en-
ergy consumption in the United States over the last 200 years, by fuel used.
Between 1850 and 2000, the use of commercial fuels increased by a factor of 100.
In the late 1940s and 1950s, an average of 2.9% more energy was used each year
in the United States than the previous year. In the 1960s and early 1970s, the
rate of growth was higher still: 4.5% per year. Such a growth rate would result
in a doubling of energy consumption in only 15 years. In the late 1970s, the
growth rate of U.S. energy consumption slowed to 3%, and in the early 1980s
actually declined: in 1983 the United States used 11% less energy than it did in
1979 even with an increase in population. During the latter 1980s, U.S. energy
consumption did increase modestly, although at a smaller rate than the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP), indicating a continuing trend toward greater energy

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Introduction 7

40 Petroleum

30
Quadrillion Btu

Natural
gas
20
Coal
Nuclear
electric
10 power
Hydroelectric
Wood power

0
1800 1825 1850 1875 1900 1925 1950 1975 2000

FIGURE 1.2
Energy consumption in the United States over the last 200 years, by fuel
used. A Btu is a unit of energy. A quadrillion Btu (or Quad) is 1015 Btu.
(UNITED STATES ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION, USEIA)

efficiency. In the 1990s, energy consumption continued to increase, but at a

slightly greater pace than in the 1980s as the nation recovered economically.
Between 1978 and 1998, energy consumption was up by 17%, but the GDP rose
by 67%.
Global demand for energy has tripled in the past 50 years and might triple
again in the next 30 years. The majority of this increased demand in the past was
in the industrialized countries, and 90% of this demand was met with fossil
fuels. However, in the years ahead, most of the increased energy demand will
come from the developing countries as they seek to meet development goals
and as they experience population increases much larger than the industrialized

Morning rush hour, Canton, China.

(TERRY QING/FPG, INTERNATIONAL, LLC)

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8 Chapter 1

countries. It is projected that energy consumption in the industrialized countries

will rise by only 1% per year in the next several decades, while the growth rate
in energy consumption in the developing countries will be about 4% per year. If
such projections come to pass, the developing countries will be using more en-
ergy than the industrialized countries by the year 2020. Figure 1.3 shows such
projections of energy use to the year 2020. Also shown is a more detailed break-
down of world energy consumption by region for 1996.
The United States, with only 4.6% of the world’s population, consumes
about one fourth of the energy used in the world today (Fig. 1.4). We have the
dubious distinction of having one of the highest per capita rates of energy con-
sumption of any country, the equivalent of using 7 gallons of oil (or about 70
pounds of coal) per person per day. This is about five times the world’s aver-
age! If the developing countries were to increase their per capita rates to that of
the developed world, world energy consumption would increase threefold.
The principal sources of energy used in the United States and the world
are illustrated in Figure 1.5. Note that about 85% of our energy comes from
fossil fuels. (For the world, if traditional noncommercial fuels are included—
such as wood and dung —then renewable energy accounts for about 20% of
the world’s total.) The fuel mix has certainly changed over the years.
Originally, humans added to their own muscles by using animals, water, and
wind to do work. Preindustrial society drew only on renewable forms of en-
ergy, that is, those sources that cannot be used up, such as water, wind, solar,

300 Latin
History Projections America
Asia
4.9% Africa
250 China 11.4%
5.0%
12.8%
Industrialized Non-
Quadrillion Btu

200
OECD
Europe
150 1.2%

Developing Former
100 USSR
10.1%
50 Former USSR Middle
East
3.2%
0
OECD
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
51.4%
Year

FIGURE 1.3
World energy consumption, 1970–2020 for industrialized countries,
developing countries, and Eastern Europe/Former Soviet Union (EE/FSU).
Also shown are regional shares of total final consumption for 1996. (OECD
is the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.) (UNITED
STATES ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION, USEIA)

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Introduction 9

100

90

Energy consumption (quadrillion Btu) 80

70 World Energy Consumption 1998

60

50

40 (World total = 378 quads)

30

20

10

0
es

na

ce
an
si

pa

di

ad

an
at

an
hi

us

In
m
Ja

an

gl
St

Fr
R

er

En
C
d

G
te
ni
U

FIGURE 1.4
World energy consumption by country: 1998. (UNITED STATES
ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION, USEIA)

Hydro
Renewables
4% Biomass
8%
Nuclear 3%
Nuclear 8%
6%

Oil
39% Oil
39%
Coal
Coal 23%
24%

Gas Gas
23% 23%
World 1998 United States 1998

FIGURE 1.5
Energy consumption by source for the world and for the United States:
1998. (UNITED STATES ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION, USEIA)

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10 Chapter 1

Oil fields in Texas in the

1920s. (AMERICAN PETROLEUM
INSTITUTE)

and biomass. A shift to nonrenewable resources began in the 18th century, as

an increasingly industrialized society started to burn fossil fuels to make
steam for steam engines (invented in 1763) and to smelt iron.
The first modern oil well was drilled in Pennsylvania in 1859, and oil found
increased use after the invention of the internal combustion engine in the 1870s.
As both the number of engines and the availability of petroleum increased, the
contribution of oil rose rapidly after 1920. Its relatively clean-burning features
were desirable for environmental reasons. Eventually, coal was replaced by oil
in industries and power utilities. Today oil accounts for about 40% of the U.S.
and the world’s fuel consumption.
The use of natural gas in the United States was small and localized until the
discovery of large deposits in Texas and Louisiana and the construction of a
network of long-distance pipelines to the north. Today natural gas accounts for
23% of the U.S. energy consumption, primarily for home heating and industrial
operations. Because of increased discoveries and electricity deregulation, the
percentage contribution by natural gas to the total energy economy in the
United States and the world has been rapidly increasing.
In the history of humanity, the fossil-fuel age will be a small interval of time.
Figure 1.6 shows the percentage contribution of each major energy resource in
the United States over the last century. Note the large decrease in the percent-
age contributions from wood and coal and the rapid increase in oil and natural
gas since World War II. Until the 1940s, the United States produced nearly all
the oil it needed. However, increasing energy demand and declining produc-
tion forced the United States to import petroleum beginning in the late 1950s.
Production reached its highest level in 1970 (at 11 million barrels per day, ab-
breviated MBPD). Production was augmented in the late 1970s by oil from
Alaska, but this resource started to fall in 1988. Today, the total U.S. output has
dipped to less than 8 MBPD. Figure 1.7 shows petroleum production and con-

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Introduction 11

Wood fuel Hydropower Nuclear

100

90
Natural gas
80
Percent of total U.S. energy

70
consumption

60 Coal
50 Petroleum
40

30

20
FIGURE 1.6
10 United States energy consumption
0 by fuel share for the last
1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 1990 century. (UNITED STATES ENERGY
Year INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION, USEIA)

sumption for the last half of the 20th century. After 1992, imports exceeded pro-
duction—doubling between 1985 and 1997. The cost of these imports is about
$60 billion per year. The five leading suppliers of petroleum to the United
States in 1999 were Venezuela, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Nigeria.
Renewable energy sources include hydroelectric, biomass (wood and wood
products), wind, photovoltaics, and radiant solar energy for heating, cooling,
and the production of electricity. Although they contributed less than 10%

20 FIGURE 1.7
United States petroleum
production and imports:
Consumption 1949–1999. (Petroleum
15
Million barrels per day

includes crude oil and

natural gas plant liquids.)
Production (UNITED STATES ENERGY
10 INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION,
USEIA)

5 Imports

0
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

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12 Chapter 1

A 300-kW photovoltaic power

plant at Gun Hill Bus Depot in
New York City. Solar cells
supplement the terminal’s
electrical energy needs. (NEW
YORK POWER AUTHORITY)

toward meeting the total U.S. energy demand, some of these technologies are
growing rapidly. Wind energy, in particular, is the world’s fastest growing en-
ergy source. Although presently supplying but 0.2% of our total energy, its rate
of growth is about 10% per year, and an astounding 37% per year in Europe.
Denmark currently supplies 8% of its electricity using wind turbines.
Recall from the beginning of this chapter that energy is not an end in it-
self, but is valued for what can be done with it. Consequently, it is important
to examine where energy is used. The end uses of energy are traditionally
broken down into four sectors: transportation, industrial, residential (single
and multifamily dwellings), and commercial (offices, stores, schools, etc.).
Figure 1.8 shows these uses in the United States in 1998. Figure 1.9 illustrates

FIGURE 1.8
United States end uses of
energy by sector: 1998.
Commercial 15%
(UNITED STATES ENERGY
INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION,
USEIA)
Industry 38%

Residential 20%

Transportation 27%

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Coal Exports
1.53 3.82

Coal Other
23.33 2.29

SAUNDERS_Hinrichs
Residential and
Natural gas Coal commercial
19.29 21.70 34.17
Fossil
fuels
Crude oil 57.67 Domestic
12.54 production Natural gas Fossil
72.52 22.10 fuels
Supply 81.56 Consumption
100.42 Industrial
NGPL 2.51 96.60
36.50
*15458*

Nuclear 7.73
Petroleum
37.71
Renewables 7.18

Imports Transportation
Crude oil 26.92 Nuclear 7.73
25.92
and products Renewables 7.37
22.53
Adjustments
0.98

Other

ADMINISTRATION, USEIA)
ENERGY INFORMATION
Liquids.) (UNITED STATES
“Natural Gas Plant
electric utilities. (NGPL =
transmission losses of
includes conversion and
consumed—96.6 Quads—
Btu). Total energy
flow in 1999 (Quadrillions of
United States total energy
FIGURE 1.9
4.39

Introduction
Thu, May 31, 2001 10:38 AM

13
 SAUNDERS_Hinrichs

14 Chapter 1

the complexity of the flow of energy from source to end use. On the left side of
the figure are the energy inputs, by amount and source, including oil and nat-
ural gas imports. The right side shows the sectors that consume the energy.

D. Energy Resources
To understand energy, one must understand energy resources, their limitations,
and their uses. One must have some idea of how large each energy resource is
and how long it will last. Both of these questions are difficult to answer because
assumptions must be made about future technologies for the extraction of these
resources, future fuel prices, and the growth rate of consumption.
Estimates of fossil-fuel resources are easiest for coal because coal deposits
occur in extensive seams over a large area and often crop out on the earth’s
surface. Estimates of petroleum and natural gas resources are more difficult
because deposits occur at scattered sites and lie underground at depths be-
tween several hundred feet and several miles; they can be found only by ex-
ploration. Table 1.1 lists estimates of U.S. and world fossil-fuel resources that
can be recovered profitably with present technology. These resources are
called reserves. Reserves are not a static quantity — they are being added to
every year through discovery and improved methods of economically extract-
ing the particular resource. Each of these resources will be covered in a later
chapter.
Each type of energy resource is measured in units appropriate to its physi-
cal form: tons of coal, barrels (bbl) of oil (where one barrel is equal to 42 U.S.
gallons), and trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas. To enable you to compare
apples and oranges, so to speak, Table 1.1 shows the equivalent of each reserve

Caribou near the Trans-

Alaska Pipeline in Alaska.
(AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE)

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Introduction 15

Table 1.1 WORLD AND UNITED STATES PROVEN RESERVES: 1998

Resource World United States Lifetime*

Oil 1020 × 109 bbl 21 × 109 bbl 8 yr

5.9 × 1018 Btu 0.11 × 1018 Btu

Natural gas 5090 × 1012 ft3 165 × 1012 ft3 9 yr

5 × 1018 Btu 0.17 × 1018 Btu

Coal 1.09 × 1012 tons 0.58 × 1012 tons 500 yr

27 × 1018 Btu 14 × 1018 Btu

Tar sands 300 × 109 bbl 22 × 109 bbl 8 yr

1.7 × 1018 Btu 0.12 × 1018 Btu

*Ratio of U.S. reserves to 1998 U.S. production rate

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

in a common energy unit, the British thermal unit (Btu). This unit is defined as
the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 lb of water by 1°F.
(1 Btu is approximately the energy released by burning a wooden kitchen
match.)

EXAMPLE
U.S. oil reserves are estimated at 21 billion bbl, and we currently
produce about 8 MBPD. How long will these reserves last at this
production rate?

Solution
The yearly production is
8,000,000 bbl/d × 365 d/yr = 2,920,000,000 bbl/yr
The lifetime will be
21,000,000,000 bbl
= 7.2 yr
2,920,000,000 bbl/yr

To Americans, most of all, it is still difficult to understand that we are run-

ning short of the fuels that propelled the United States into the position of
global economic leadership that it occupies. The nation progressed by recog-
nizing no limits, by making the most of our citizens’ ingenuity, and by taking
chances. The economy was built on a price of $3 per barrel of oil. That is no

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16 Chapter 1

Focus On 1.2

ENERGY IN CHINA
Although about 20% of the world’s people live in China, the Chinese
accounted for less than 10% of the world’s total energy consumption in
1997. The per capita energy consumption was less than one tenth that
of the United States and one third the global average. However,
China’s GDP grew by almost 8% per year in the 1990s. In 1982, 3% of
Beijing’s households had refrigerators. In 1995, 81% did (using three
times as much electricity as U.S. models). Unlike the pattern in most
Western countries, coal dominates the commercial energy resources of
China, accounting for 71% of the country’s energy consumption (Fig.
1.10). China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of coal.
However, the pictures for urban and rural energy resource
consumption are quite different. Of China’s one billion people, 80% live
in rural areas and consume only 40% of the total energy. Of the rural
consumption, 90% is from plant and animal sources (called biomass),
and 4.5 million anaerobic digesters produce natural gas from animal
waste for cooking and lighting.
Energy is becoming a key constraint in China’s economic growth.
It is estimated that 20% of potential industrial output is lost because
of a shortage of electricity. Hydropower produces about 30% of
China’s electricity and is rapidly expanding, primarily through the
construction of small-scale units. More than 100,000 hydroelectric
plants have been built over the past 20 years. China is now building
what will be the world’s largest dam—the Three Gorges, along the

Gas 2% FIGURE 1.10

Hydro 6% Energy resources used in
China: 1997. (UNITED STATES
ENERGY INFORMATION
Oil 21%
ADMINISTRATION, USEIA)

Coal 71%

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Introduction 17

Yangtze River near Wuhan (see map). When completed in 2009, the
dam will have an output of 18,600 MW. It is so large that many
consider it to be the eighth wonder of the world. The dam will be 2 km
across and create a reservoir 600 km long. A quarter of a million
people will be displaced. China is the world’s fifth largest oil
producer, yet imports 25% of its needs.

Volga
Ob Yenisey Lake Amur
Baikal North
Caspian RUSSIA Pacific
Sea Ocean
KAZAKHSTAN Harbin

Aral Lake
Balkhash NORTH N
Sea Shenyang KOREA PA
UZ MONGOLIA JA
TU BE
RK KI KYRGYZSTAN SOUTH
ME ST BEIJING
NIS AN Urumqi Huang He KOREA
TA
N Tianjin
IRAN Yellow
TAJIKISTAN Sea
Indus Lanzhou Zhengzhou
AFGHANISTAN Shanghai
Xian Wuhan East
Nanjing China
Chengdu Sea
PAKISTAN Brahmaputra Chang Jiang Philippine
Chongqing
NE Lhasa Taipei Sea
PA
L
Taiwan
Ganges Guangzhou 0 300 600 km
BHUTAN Mekong Hong Kong S.A.R.
INDIA 0 300 600 mi
Arabian Macau
BANGLADESH South
Sea VIETNAM S.A.R.
China PHILIPPINES
BURMA LAOS Hainan Sea
Dao
THAILAND

longer the case. To remain strong economically, we must acknowledge the

limits of our resources. Failure to recognize this finiteness is certainly one ele-
ment responsible for the energy crises of the past. The question of resource
depletion is addressed in the next section.

E. Exponential Growth and Resource Depletion

An important factor in estimating the lifetimes of energy resources is the
growth rate of consumption. Earlier figures in this chapter displayed such data.
For example, between 1960 and 1970, U.S. energy consumption grew at an av-
erage rate of 4.5% per year. It is useless to state the lifetime of a resource if noth-
ing is said about how fast the use of that resource is increasing (or decreasing).

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18 Chapter 1

Exponential growth illustration in

southern India.

There are many types of growth, but one that is of particular interest to us is
exponential growth. If a quantity is growing at the same percentage rate each
year, then we say its growth is exponential. Said another way, a quantity that is
growing exponentially will always increase in size by the same factor in a given
period of time —the time required to double the quantity will be the same re-
gardless of the starting amount.
Consider the growth of money, say $1000, in a savings account that is
earning a simple 10% annual interest rate. Table 1.2 shows the amount of
money in the bank at the end of each year, assuming that no withdrawals are
made. Each year the amount grows by 10% of the amount that is in the ac-
count at the beginning of the year. By the end of the seventh year, the $1000
investment has grown to $1948, or almost double. By the 14th year, this
amount has almost doubled again, to about $3800. In the 22nd year, $8000 is
in the bank, double the amount available 7 years earlier. This quantity is
growing exponentially because the amount in the bank is increasing at a fixed
percentage rate, and the time required to double your money is constant—
about 7 years.
A useful approximate relationship between the doubling time (in years) and
the percentage growth rate is
70 yr
Doubling time ≈
% growth rate
If we had a growth rate of 7% per year for electrical energy, the amount of
electrical energy consumed would double in about 70/7 = 10 years. In other
words, the number of electrical power plants needed would double in 10 years,
and quadruple in 20 years. To specify the lifetime of a resource, you must also
specify the expected rate of growth in its use. At a zero growth rate for coal pro-
duction, U.S. coal resources will last about 500 years. However, if the growth
rate for coal production were 5% per year, this lifetime would drop to less than
70 years!
Clearly, the use of a particular resource will not continue to grow exponen-
tially until we have exhausted that fuel, and then suddenly stop. The pattern of

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Introduction 19

Table 1.2 MONEY IN THE BANK—AN EXAMPLE OF 10%

ANNUAL EXPONENTIAL GROWTH

Year End Amount Year End Amount

0 $1000 12 $3138

1 1100 13 3453

2 1210 14 3798

3 1331 15 4178

4 1464 16 4596

5 1610 17 5056

6 1771 18 5562

7 1948 19 6118

8 2143 20 6730

9 2357 21 7403

10 2594 22 8143

11 2854

growth and decline in resource use has been analyzed by M. K. Hubbert of the
U.S. Geological Survey. In general, the use or exploitation of a resource shows
an initial period of increase. As the high-quality deposits run out, production
reaches a maximum and then declines, eventually going to zero at the exhaus-
tion of the resource. The production curve will be bell-shaped, as depicted in
Figures 1.11, 1.12, and 1.13. As a resource begins to be depleted, discovery and
production become more difficult, prices rise, and other resources begin to take
the place of the original fuel. If one graphs the annual production versus time,
the total area under the curve represents the total amount of the resource
known to be recoverable. The amount used so far is the area under the curve up
to the present year.
These bell-shaped production curves allow an estimate of the time until the
complete depletion of a resource; they also provide an estimate of when maxi-
mum production will occur. Figure 1.11 shows a curve for the production of
coal in the world. The graph implies that coal resources are large enough to
last more than 500 years, and that the peak in production will not occur for al-
most 200 years. The situation is considerably different for oil and natural gas.

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20 Chapter 1

40

Coal production rate

30

(billion tons/yr)
20

10

0
1800 1900 2000 2200 2400 2600
Year

FIGURE 1.11
World coal production cycle. The probable exploitation of
a fossil fuel (coal in this case) can be characterized by the
solid curve. Production initially increases exponentially (as
shown by the dashed line), but its rate of increase
eventually decreases. Production then declines as
extraction becomes more difficult and the rate of
discovery decreases. Knowing the amount of fuel initially
present, we can use this pattern to determine the lifetime
of a resource; in this example, the lifetime of coal reserves
is 400 to 600 years. (The amount of coal used so far is
shown by the shaded area.) (CURVES BY M. K. HUBBERT, U.S.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. ADAPTED FROM AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS,
NOVEMBER 1981)
Oil production rate (million barrels per day)

10

FIGURE 1.12
United States oil production.
Comparison of estimated
0 (Hubbert) production curve
1900 1940 1980 2020 (dashed line) and actual
Year production (solid line).

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Introduction 21

Gas production rate (trillion cubic feet per year)

20

10

FIGURE 1.13
United States natural gas
production. Comparison of
estimated (Hubbert)
0 production curve (dashed
1900 1930 1960 1990 2020 2050 line) and actual production
Year (solid line).

Figure 1.12 shows U.S. production for oil. It suggests that within 20 years the
production rate of oil in the United States will be one third what it is today. It
also indicates that the peak of U.S. oil production should have occurred about
1970, and this indeed did happen. The same conclusions can be drawn from
Figure 1.13 for natural gas; U.S. gas production peaked in 1973. The produc-
tion rate for natural gas has not fallen off as fast as the Hubbert curve would
indicate. Advanced drilling techniques, offshore deposits, and increased de-
mand from electric utilities and industry have pushed natural gas production
up from these predictions. However, consumption outpaces production, and
imports have been rising steadily to where they now account for almost one
fifth of natural gas used.

F. Oil: A Critical Resource

Oil has fueled most of the increase in global energy consumption since
World War II. In 1950, oil accounted for less than one third of world energy
use, and today it accounts for almost half. The low cost of oil and its adapt-
ability to many uses —from space heating to transportation to electric en-
ergy production—made it the fuel of choice for an expanding economy. The
rapid growth rate of U.S. oil consumption, about 5% per year, is reflected in
Figure 1.2.
The last three decades have been extremely volatile for the world energy pic-
ture and for world economics, and an examination of oil prices over time reflects

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22 Chapter 1

U.S. oil price

decontrol
40
OPEC decision
35 to regain
market share
Nominal dollars per barrel

30 OPEC
Iraq
invades reduces
25 Kuwait production
Iranian
revolution
20

Arab oil
15
embargo

10

0
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
Year

FIGURE 1.14
World oil prices: 1970–2000. Oil prices reflect international events. (UNITED
STATES ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION, USEIA)

these international events (Fig. 1.14). In constant dollars, the real price of oil de-
clined during the 1950s and 1960s, encouraging a rapid increase in its rate of use.
During the early part of this expansion, most oil production was controlled by
large multinational companies. However, producing countries pushed for more
control over oil operations. A cartel of oil-producing states called the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)* was formed in 1960,
and its influence increased because of political changes and an increasing world-
wide demand for oil. As the OPEC countries increased their market share of oil
sales in the early 1970s, they began to set their own prices for their exports and
to take control of oil away from foreign companies. Several events in the 1970s
and early 1980s brought about a series of sudden increases in oil prices, which
tended to remain in effect long after the political situations changed.
1. At the outbreak of the Arab-Israeli war in October 1973, the Arab
member countries of OPEC imposed an oil embargo against selected
Western countries, including the United States, and cut back

*
Member states of OPEC are Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
Venezuela, and the United Arab Emirates.

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Introduction 23

production. This supply disruption caused prices in the world

market to triple, from about $8 per barrel to more than $25 per barrel
(in 1985 dollars).
2. The Iranian revolution in 1978 and 1979 disrupted that country’s
production of almost 6 million barrels per day. Even though other
countries stepped up production and took up some of the slack, the net
effect was a loss in the world oil market of about 2 MBPD. During these
events, prices doubled from about $22 per barrel to $44 per barrel.
3. The response of the world energy economy to high oil prices was to
reduce energy consumption, use energy more efficiently, and
develop alternative energy resources. In the United States, President
Ronald Reagan decontrolled oil prices in 1981. Domestic production
increased and the drilling rate reached all-time records. As a result of

BLACK SEA

U.S.S.R.
Ankara

TURKEY CASPIAN
SEA

CYPRUS
Nicosia SYRIA Tehran
MEDITERRANEAN
LEBANON
Tig

SEA Beirut
ris

Damascus
ISRAEL Baghdad AFGHANISTAN
Jerusalem IRAQ Eu
Amman ph IRAN
ra
Cairo te
JORDAN s
KUWAIT
Al Kuwait
QATAR
PAKISTAN
Nil

Doha
e

Persian
EGYPT Gulf

Riyadh Abu Dhabi

BAHRAIN Muscat
UNITED
Manama
ARAB
EMIRATES
SAUDI
ARABIA
RED SEA

SUDAN OMAN ARABIAN SEA

Khartoum YEMEN
San’a

Major oil fields

Major oil pipelines
DJIBOUTI 0 200 400 600 mi

ETHIOPIA 0 200 400 600 km

A map of the Middle East.

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24 Chapter 1

these market responses to higher oil prices, the world’s dependence

on OPEC declined from about 28 MBPD in 1980 to about 17 MBPD in
1985. World oil consumption fell by 14% during that period.
4. Oil prices began a drop in 1981. In 1986, prices dropped sharply by
almost a factor of three as OPEC tried to regain its share of a shrinking
world oil market by increasing production and lowering prices. In less
than a year Saudi Arabia tripled its production rate to almost 6 MBPD.
5. Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 prompted a sudden increase
in the price of oil on the world market, and it reached its highest point
in eight years. As other countries such as Saudi Arabia began to replace
Kuwait’s production, prices dropped again. The Allied liberation of
Kuwait in January 1991 caused another sharp drop in prices.
6. Worldwide, oil imports are increasing, setting the stage for future
energy crises. World oil prices are difficult to predict. While oil prices in
1994 were at their lowest point since 1988 because of an overabundance
of oil on the world market, prices at the beginning of the 21st century
rose to their highest since 1990 (at over $30/bbl) as OPEC cut back
production and most countries were experiencing increased demand.
High gasoline prices in 2000 might have aggravated many drivers but
did not seem to dampen driving habits in a robust economy. In the
years ahead, most growth in demand will probably come from Eastern
Europe and China, while most growth in supply will be from Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

G. Energy Conservation
The total energy consumed in any activity can be thought of as the product of
two factors:
Total energy consumption =
energy required for the activity (intensity) × frequency of activity
The factor we call intensity of use is the amount of energy required to do the
task once; the level of activity is the number of times the task is done—the fre-
quency. For instance, if your car uses one gallon of gasoline to go between your
home and your job (the activity) and you drive ten times per week (the fre-
quency), the energy consumption for this activity is 10 gallons per week.
We can represent these two factors in a graph (Fig. 1.15) as quantities along
the x and y axes. Their product, the total energy consumption for that activity, is
represented by the area of the rectangle. The figure shows two rectangles, both
with the same area representing the same amount of total energy consumed.
For rectangle (a), a high activity frequency was possible because the intensity of
use (energy required for the activity) was low. In rectangle (b), the same
amount of energy was consumed but with a greater intensity (more energy re-
quired per activity), so there needed to be a reduced frequency for that activity.

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Introduction 25

Frequency
(a)

(b) FIGURE 1.15

Characterization of total energy use as a
function of intensity of use and frequency of
Intensity activity.

Efforts of energy conservation usually concentrate on one or the other of these

factors. In the context of Figure 1.15, energy conservation strives to reduce the size
of the rectangle representing the total energy used. The two approaches are
1. The “technical fix”; this consists of using fuel more efficiently to
perform the same task, such as driving a car with a more efficient
engine (reducing the energy required for that activity).

2. The “lifestyle change”; this means consciously using less fuel by

such behaviors as turning down the thermostat or driving fewer
miles (thereby reducing the frequency of the activity).
The maximum possible success of technical fixes for energy conservation is
limited by the laws of physics (the first and second laws of thermodynamics,
discussed in Chapter 4). However, there is still a lot of room for improvement in
this approach for energy conservation, especially in the efficiency of energy use
for particular tasks. For example, a 20-watt fluorescent bulb gives the same light
output as a 75-watt incandescent bulb and lasts ten times as long. The initial cost
of a fluorescent bulb is higher, but the savings in electricity costs during average
use over one year will pay back the investment. If we replaced incandescent
bulbs with fluorescent ones, fewer electric power plants would be needed. The
investment made in constructing an industry to build energy-efficient light
bulbs will be much less than that needed to build an electrical power plant. This
type of economics is of prime importance in developing countries.
In energy conservation, the issues are more than just technological, because
energy consumption also depends on the “frequency of the activity.” There are
many barriers to adopting the measures we will discuss in this book, such as
market restraints (e.g., the initial cost of home insulation). There is also a gen-
eral reluctance to move toward what are envisioned as “lifestyle changes”
(such as changes in comfort control or in preferences for certain materials).
Many people assert that energy prices should reflect what it will cost to replace
the dwindling supplies of nonrenewable fuels such as oil and natural gas, rather
than just what it costs to obtain them. Societies will not switch to renewable

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26 Chapter 1

energy technologies and to more efficient equipment if fossil fuels are priced as if
they were almost free. One of the main forces behind our per capita reduction in
energy use during the early 1980s was higher oil prices (Fig. 1.16). Until that time
we had seen a steady rise in energy use per person. Between 1900 and 1980, per
capita energy use rose from 80 million to 320 million Btu per year. Did the quality
of life improve that much? Do you believe that you are four times better off than
your great grandparents? The per capita use of electricity was 6 times higher in
1998 than 1950.
Increased emphasis on energy conservation is based on some convincing
arguments:
1. Conservation technologies are cost-effective alternatives to the
development of additional supply technologies. That is, in most
cases it will cost less to save a barrel of oil than to develop a new
barrel of an oil substitute. “Investment in energy conservation
provides a better return than investment in energy supply,” stated
the International Energy Agency in 1987.
2. Conservation will stretch the earth’s limited energy resources, not
only for the United States but for other countries as well. Today more
than half of the less-developed countries rely on imported oil for
75% or more of their commercial energy needs. Conservation will
gain time for the possible development of inexhaustible resources
such as solar energy and nuclear fusion.
3. Conservation will reduce the pollution of our environment. If we use
less energy, there will be less air and water pollution, less radiation
and thermal pollution, and less global warming and acid rain.
4. Conservation technologies can be put to use more quickly than we
can increase supplies. It takes 2 to 4 years to open a new coal mine,

400 FIGURE 1.16

U.S. per capita energy consumption

United States per capita

energy consumption over the
320
past 130 years. (UNITED STATES
ENERGY INFORMATION
(million Btu/year)

240 ADMINISTRATION, USEIA)

160

80

0
1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990
Year

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Introduction 27

2 to 3 years to build a gas-turbine power plant, 5 to 7 years to build a

coal-fired electric generating plant, and 9 to 11 years to construct a
nuclear power plant. Many conservation practices can begin
immediately because the technology is available and simple, such as
better insulation of buildings. The money needed for such energy-
saving measures is less than that necessary for the capital-intensive
supply technologies.
5. Conservation of fossil fuel resources is particularly crucial for the
future, since their use as the raw materials for chemical industries
(such as pharmaceuticals and plastics) is far more important than
their use as fuels in power generation.
6. Conservation measures can be readily practiced in some way by each
individual, with the incentive of saving money as well as energy.
Such practices can also contribute to our own health; for example,
bicycle riding provides more exercise than driving a car.

H. Economic and Environmental Considerations

The belief was strongly held some years ago that economic growth always
meant increasing the amount of energy used. Since it takes energy to produce
a given output, one might expect a constant relationship between the GDP
and energy consumption. This relationship was steady until the early 1980s;
then higher oil prices mandated energy conservation and increased efficiency,
and this caused a significant decrease in per capita energy use (Fig. 1.17).
From 1980 to 1998, energy consumption increased by only an average of 1.0%

FIGURE 1.17
United States energy use
(Btu) compared to GDP over
time, and their ratio. (UNITED
STATES ENERGY INFORMATION
Relative value

GDP ADMINISTRATION, USEIA)

Btu

1.0

Btu/GDP

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Year

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28 Chapter 1

Focus On 1.3

THE KYOTO PROTOCOL ON CLIMATE CHANGE

In December 1997, 167 nations met in Japan, under the auspices of the
United Nations, to forge what is known as the “Kyoto Protocol.” This
document is the first international attempt to place legally binding
limits on greenhouse gas emissions from developed countries. The
Protocol set as a goal to cut by 2008–2012 the combined emissions of
greenhouse gases from developed countries by about 5% from their
1990 levels. However, the Kyoto Protocol does not set any binding
limits on emissions from developing countries. The United States,
which emits the most CO2 of any country, and which also has the
highest per capita CO2 emissions, will need to meet a reduction goal of
7% less than 1990. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that U.S.
carbon emissions by 2010 will increase by 34% in the absence of any
change in energy policy or consumer behavior.
Since about 83% of greenhouse gas emissions in 1990 were CO2
released by the use of fossil fuels, actions taken to reduce these
emissions are likely to have a significant impact on energy markets.
Increases in energy prices may be required to meet these limits. It is
expected that the cost of electricity generated by coal will rise and the
share of electricity generated by natural gas and renewables will
increase.

annually, while the GDP (in constant dollars) grew by 3.3% per year. A report
by the Office of Technology Assessment stated that two thirds of this im-
provement in energy use was a result of conservation and increased effi-
ciency, while the other third came from a shift toward a more service-oriented
economy. Energy use has risen more rapidly since 1986, but the trend toward
energy conservation continues as one can see by the continued decrease in the
Btu/GDP ratio.
Energy policy should be concerned not only with finding new sources and
reducing energy consumption, but also with weighing the effects of new tech-
nologies and energy-related lifestyles on our lives and on our planet. Energy
policy should be shaped by an awareness of long-term constraints as well as

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Introduction 29

short-term predicaments. What do we give up, and for what? Do we sacrifice

the tundra in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Reserve in return for an addi-
tional ten years’ supply of oil? Was the 1989 Exxon Valdez Alaskan oil spill an
acceptable part of our effort to provide stable oil resources? Can we cope with
increased emissions from fossil-fuel power plants and automobiles? Are poten-
tial radiation dangers too severe to continue the use of nuclear energy? Even
though many of the following chapters will deal with the details of supply
technologies, we will also cover environmental constraints and measures for
more efficient fuel use.
Understanding energy use means also understanding the environmental
consequences of its use. A major concern in the burning of fossil fuels is the
possibility of large global climatic changes caused by increased levels of carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the upper atmosphere. More than 5 bil-
lion tons of carbon are added to our atmosphere each year by fossil-fuel com-
bustion. The average global temperature has already risen by 1⁄2°C since 1900
(see Fig. 1.1). Increased global temperatures could affect agricultural produc-
tion, local temperatures, severe weather patterns, and sea level heights.
Chapter 9 will focus on this topic in greater detail.
Acid rain caused by the emissions of coal-fired power plants harms trees,
crops, and animals. About 20% of Europe’s forests have been damaged by acid
rain, while hundreds of lakes in the United States and Canada have become
empty of fish. The effects of increased emissions of sulfur oxides, nitrogen ox-
ides, and hydrocarbons have led to severe health problems around the world.
Nuclear power has its own set of environmental constraints, including the
need for the permanent disposal of radioactive wastes and the assurance of
safety during operation.

I. Future Scenarios
The energy situation today is dramatically different from that in the early
1970s, but this is not something about which to be complacent. Lower oil prices
in the 1990s brought increased oil consumption and discouraged energy con-
servation and the development of alternative energy resources. However, the
economic environment has changed in a way that may make it easier to handle
future supply disruptions or shortages:
1. The United States depends less today on oil for its fuel mix and more
on coal, natural gas, nuclear, and renewable technologies than we
did a decade ago.
2. Oil production today is more dispersed among non-OPEC nations
than it was in 1973 when 56% of the world supply was produced by
OPEC members.
3. Thanks in part to the high oil prices of the 1970s, we have learned
both to conserve energy in the residential and industrial sectors and

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30 Chapter 1

to build more energy-efficient machinery. The fuel efficiency of new

cars today is 62% greater than in the middle 1970s (up from 17.5
miles per gallon to 28.5 mpg today). New refrigerators are 300%
more energy efficient today than in 1973.
4. There is now a Strategic Petroleum Reserve that provides a backup
oil supply of approximately 60 days in the event that all oil imports
to the United States are cut off. It was used in 2000 to help lower
rising fuel prices.
5. Renewable energy, all but unheard of in 1973 (except hydropower),
has been growing steadily in both developed and developing
countries.
However, future energy crises certainly can, and probably will, occur. We
still have a limited resource base, especially of oil and natural gas. No act of
Congress can increase our fossil-fuel reserves. The world’s strong depen-
dence on oil will continue to be a factor in limiting economic growth, espe-
cially in developing countries, and the oil supply will still be vulnerable to
the political situation in the Middle East. Lower oil prices benefit the econ-
omy and the consumer in the short run, while cutting the federal deficit.
However, lower oil prices provide less incentive to invest in energy-efficient
equipment, discourage domestic exploratory drilling, and reduce research
and development efforts on alternative technologies. Finally, the higher eco-
nomic growth rate caused by low oil prices brings with it increased environ-
mental pollution.
Oil prices are quite volatile. While oil prices dropped to $11 per barrel in the
late 1990s, they were about $30 per barrel at the start of the year 2000. In
December 1998, depressed oil prices were predicted to last for ten more years.
Such uncertainties make forecasts of energy demand very difficult. Many other
things can also change to alter predictions. These include new technologies,
new laws and regulations, as well as economic growth or downturn. Figure 1.3
includes a prediction for world energy demand through 2020. World energy
consumption is predicted to increase by 50% in this time period, with the
largest increases coming in Asia and Central and South America. But experts
have been wrong before.
Our growth as an industrialized society has been fueled by cheap, abundant
resources. Progress was achieved by developments in science and technology,
and energy resources were available to do the work. The situation today in our
global marketplace is somewhat reversed in that resource availability will dic-
tate our progress and our style of living much more than it has in the past. The
time scale for change will be much shorter—decades rather than centuries. We
have left the era of cheap energy, and we will have to make lifestyle changes re-
gardless of what path we take.
Although this book emphasizes energy use and energy technology, one
must keep in mind that energy is just a means to an end. Human conditions and
values can be damaged as much by having too much energy, too soon, as by
having too little, too late.

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Introduction 31

Focus On 1.4

THE GREEN GAMES 2000

The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games boasted many renewable energy
projects that set environmental standards for the future. The Olympic
Village, dubbed the world’s largest solar suburb, used rooftop-
mounted photovoltaic panels. Energy-efficient buildings and passive
cooling designs (air circulation without the use of fans) cut energy use
by 50%. Electricity from renewable energy sources provided all the
electricity for the Superdome. Many of the buses used for spectator
transport were powered by compressed natural gas. The pace car for
the marathon was run with a fuel cell powered by liquefied hydrogen.
With these games, the environment has become the third pillar of the
Olympics, along with sport and culture.

Sydney Opera House (DONALD MIRALLE/LIAISOM AGENCY)

Internet References
For an up-to-date list of Internet resources related to the material in this chap-
ter, go to the Harcourt College Publishers website at http://www.harcourtcol-
lege.com. The links are in the Energy: Its Use and the Environment site on the
Physics page. General energy related sites and some guidelines for using the
World Wide Web in your class are on the inside front cover of this book.

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32 Chapter 1

References
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Bates, R. W. 1993. The Impact of Economic Policy on Energy and the Environment in
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Brown, L., et al. Annual. State of the World. New York, W. W. Norton.
Brown, L., et al. Annual. Vital Signs. New York, W. W. Norton.
Cassedy, E., and P. Grossman. 1990. An Introduction to Energy: Resources, Technology, and
Society. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Commoner, B. 1977. The Poverty of Power: Energy and the Economic Crisis. New York,
Bantam.
Commoner, B. 1992. Making Peace with the Planet. New York, W. W. Norton.
Darmstadter, J., and R. W. Fri. 1992. Interconnections Between Energy and the
Environment. Annual Review of Energy, 17.
Economic Development. 1980. Scientific American, 243 (September).
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Energy for Planet Earth. 1990. Scientific American, 263 (September).
Fowler, J. 1975. Energy and the Environment. New York, McGraw-Hill.
Freeman, D. 1974. Energy: The New Era. New York, Vintage.
Harrison, P. 1993. Inside the Third World: The Anatomy of Poverty. London, Penguin.
Helm, J. L., ed. 1990. Energy: Production, Consumption, and Consequences. Washington,
D.C., National Academy Press.
Houghton, R. A., and G. M. Woodwell. 1989. Global Climatic Change. Scientific American
(April).
Hubbert, M. K. 1969. Energy Resources. Resources and Man. San Francisco, W. H.
Freeman.
Hubbert, M. K. 1971. Energy Sources of the Earth. Scientific American, 224 (September).
Levine, M. D., F. Liu, and J. E. Sinton. 1992. China’s Energy System. Annual Review of
Energy, 17.
Lovins, A. 1977. Soft Energy Paths. New York, Harper.
Murota, Y., and Y. Yano. 1993. Japan’s Policy on Energy and the Environment. Annual
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1990. Managing Planet Earth [Readings from Scientific American]. New York, W. H.
Freeman.
Ramachandran, A., and J. Gururaja. 1977. Perspectives on Energy in India. Annual
Review of Energy, 2.
Ross, M., and R. Williams. 1981. Our Energy: Regaining Control. New York, McGraw-Hill.
Sathaye, J., A. Ghirardi, and L. Schipper. 1987. Energy Demand in Developing
Countries: A Sectoral Analysis of Recent Trends. Annual Review of Energy, 12.
Sathaye, J., and S. Tyler. 1991. Transitions in Household Energy Use in Urban China,
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Schipper, L. 1976. Raising the Productivity of Energy Utilization. Annual Review of
Energy, 1.
Schipper, L., R. B. Howarth, and H. Geller. 1990. U.S. Energy Use from 1973 to 1987: The
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Schramm, G., and J. Warford, eds. 1989. Environmental Management and Economic
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Introduction 33

World Resources Institute, United Nations Environment Program, The World Bank.
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Yergin, D. 1993. The Prize: Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power. New York, Simon &
Schuster.

QUESTIONS
1. Identify the principle energy sources used worldwide and classify them as
either renewable or nonrenewable.
2. What energy source has seen the most rapid growth in the past 50 years
and why?
3. If the world use of oil is about 66 MBPD, how long would you expect this
resource to last at this consumption rate? (See Table 1.1.)
4. (a) What is exponential growth?
(b) Today the United States has the equivalent of 400 standard-sized 1000
MW power plants. If electrical energy consumption continues to rise at
the present rate of 2% per year, how many additional power plants will
be needed in 35 years to meet those needs?
5. If the world’s population is increasing at an annual rate of 1.3%, and there
were 5 billion people in the year 1986, then in what year will the world’s
population be 10 billion?
6. List reasons why the U.S. per capita consumption of energy over the past
three generations has risen by almost a factor of four.
7. Discuss the statement that the price of energy should reflect the true cost of
replacing it.
8. The amount of energy used depends on what two factors? Give some addi-
tional examples of each.
9. What is meant by the statement that energy is but a means to an end, not
the end itself.
10. What has been the impact of the 1991 Persian Gulf War on the availability
of oil worldwide?
11. Find the price of oil today in terms of dollars per barrel.
12. Why is the energy use per capita in the world rising?
13. Some of the advantages of energy conservation were given in this chapter.
What are some disadvantages?
14. Should environmental impacts always be given first concern when it comes
to the use of energy?
15. Even though the subject has not been covered thoroughly yet, list alterna-
tive or substitute fuels that would begin to reduce the carbon dioxide emis-
sions of fossil-fueled power plants that contribute to global warming. What
problems might these alternatives present?

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34 Chapter 1

16. What changes would you have to make personally if the amount of energy
that you use per year was mandated for a 25% reduction?
17. If the world’s population rises by a factor of two in the next 60 years (as
projected), does that mean we will have twice as much pollution and/or
twice as much energy consumption? Elaborate.
18. Investigate what choices are available in your community for choosing a
supplier of your electricity.
19. What problems are there with the continued growth in energy demand in
developing countries?
20. If an American consumes the energy equivalent of 7 gal of oil per day, then
how much oil does an Indian consume daily? (See Figure 1.4.)
21. Why has the industrial world’s per capita use of energy remained about the
same in the past decade, even though the world’s economy has increased
by 50%?
22. In his book, Earth in the Balance, Al Gore argues that “research in lieu of ac-
tion is unconscionable. A choice to do nothing in response to the mounting
evidence [on global warming] is actually a choice to continue and even ac-
celerate the environmental destruction that is creating the catastrophe at
hand.” Comment.
23. There is always a significant time period between book publication and
available data for such things as energy use. From current data on the Web,
find the present (or most recent) numbers for world and U.S. consumption
of energy. Cite your URLs.
24. Determine what energy resources are used to provide energy in your state
and their percentage contributions. Cite two URLs, at least one of which
must be a government one (state or federal). Data must be no older than
two years.

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