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PeakOil is You

PeakOil is You

Stats and ramble

General discussions of the systemic, societal and civilisational effects of depletion.

Stats and ramble

Unread postby Olaf » Wed 12 Jan 2005, 11:54:26

Energy Information Administration
December 2004 Monthly Energy Review

(source: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/overview.html)

Table 1.3. Energy Consumption by Source ** (percentages calculated by me) (in trillion BTU's)


Year
2003
Coal Consumption
22705.447 (23.1251%)


Natural Gas Consumption
22564.076 (22.9811%)


Petroleum Products Consumption
39047.303 (39.7690%)


Fossil Fuels Consumption
84367.341 (85.9267%)


Nuclear Electric Power Consumption
7972.521 (8.1199%)


Conventional Hydroelectric Power Consumption
2779.495 (2.8309%)

Wood, Waste and Alcohol Fuels Consumption
2884.687 (2.9380%)

Geothermal Energy Consumption
314.235 (0.3200%)

Solar and Wind Energy Consumption
171.846 (0.1750%)


Renewable Energy Consumption
6150.263 (6.2639%)

Total Energy Consumption
98185.274


Approximately 6.2% of all energy consumed in the U.S. (by BTU) came from renewable sources. Where is the infrastructure and energy going to come from when the approx. 86% generated from coal, oil, and natural gas start to run out? Coal is a dirty and environmentally destructive process of extraction, not to mention the energy used to actually mine coal comes from OIL, and perhaps other non-renewable energy sources. There will be lots of coal, but it won’t be cost effective to mine it once the cost of oil continues to rise. Cars, semis, planes, and buses don’t run on it. Natural gas is expected to peak shortly after oil. Building new nuclear facilities, wind farms, hydroelectric plants, etc. each require alot of time and energy (oil, coal, natural gas) to construct. Don’t see lots of this happening. This is all compounded by the fact that the earth has far exceeded its natural carrying capacity for people due to the availability of cheap fossil fuels. How will all of these people eat? The human population of earth is GROWING. The demand for energy is GROWING. Law of Limiting Factors, I think that is what it is called, just like ecology teaches us. Within an ecosystem, each species has factors that can control its population levels. You don’t have enough air, some die until there is enough. You don’t have enough food, some die until there is enough. You don’t have enough water, some die until there is enough. Get the idea? Less energy will equal less people. This will be good for the planet, but bad for us in the short term. This does not even consider what governments and people will try to do to maintain a nice share of energy in order to either stay alive or stay in power. Resource wars (what wars are almost always about), and social unrest may very well become the norm. Think about that and then look at what your government is doing right now. How do you like them apples?
Olaf
 

Unread postby 0mar » Wed 12 Jan 2005, 15:20:12

good fucking post man. too bad common sense doesn't jibe all that well :(
Joseph Stalin
"It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything. "
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