Global energy consumption in the last half century has increased very rapidly and is expected to continue to grow over the next 50 years. However, we expect to see significant differences between the last 50 years and the next. The past increase was stimulated by relatively “cheap” fossil fuels and increased rates of industrialization in North America, Europe, and Japan; yet while energy consumption in these countries continues to increase, additional factors are making the picture for the next 50 years more complex. These additional complicating factors include the very rapid increase fuel economy in energy use in China and India (countries representing about a third of the world’s population); the expected depletion of oil resources in the not-too-distant future; and the effect of human activities on global climate change. (more…)

The focus of this section is on the quantitative assessment of the impact of oil price fluctuations on inflation. For that purpose, the empirical evidence provided by an OECD study is briefly described. The study considered a permanent oil price increase of about $10, vis-a`-vis a baseline where oil prices were projected to remain at the $20–25 level (this shock corresponds to a price increase of about 40–50%). The OECD study presents estimates of the impact on GDP, world trade growth, and inflation, for the G7 countries. The estimates were obtained through the simulation of the OECD macro-econometric model Interlink, assuming fixed nominal exchange rates, real interest rates kept at baseline levels, and unchanged real government expenditures. The main results of this exercise, with respect to the impact on oil prices inflation, are reported in Table I. (more…)

Various provisions in the federal income tax treat energy producers more or less favorably than other businesses. By changing the after-tax rate of return on investments in the energy sector, the Tax Code may alter the long-run supply of specific types of energy.

In general, the income of all participants in the energy sector is subject to income tax of one form or another. Two notable exceptions arise in the generation and sale of electricity. Governmental agencies (such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Bonneville Power Administration, and municipally owned power companies) account for approximately 14 percent of the electricity sold in the United States. (more…)

Federal Excise Taxes placed on specific energy sources tend to reduce energy demand for these energy sources in both the short and the long run. The federal government imposes excise taxes on almost all petroleum products (including petroleum additives) and coal (see Table 1). The federal government also imposes federal excise taxes on many transportation uses of methanol, ethanol, natural gas, and propane and imposes a fee on electricity produced from nuclear power plants and nuclear power electricity. (more…)

There are literally thousands of uses for lasers. One of the largest applications is telecommunications—sending a signal through fiber optic cables, for example. This application grew rapidly in the 1990s with the phenomenal increase in traffic on the Internet. Optical data storage, such as on compact disks, CD-ROMs, and DVDs, is another important use for lasers. The information age was obviously a boon to this application, and as researchers obtained smaller wavelengths with diode lasers, they were able to fit more information on smaller storage devices. (more…)

Energy quality is the relative economic usefulness per heat equivalent unit of different fuels and electricity. One way of measuring energy quality is the marginal product of the fuel, which is the marginal increase in the quantity of a good or service produced by the use of one additional heat unit of fuel. These services also include services received directly from energy by consumers. Some fuels can be used for a larger number of activities and/or for more valuable activities. For example, coal cannot be used directly to power a computer whereas electricity can. The marginal product of a fuel is determined in part by a complex set of attributes unique to each fuel: physical scarcity, capacity to do useful work, energy density, cleanliness, amenability to storage, safety, flexibility of use, cost of conversion, and so on. But also the marginal product is not uniquely fixed by these attributes. (more…)

Silicon is the material of choice for most Micro Electro Mechanical Systems due to (1) the feature size often being in the range of less than 20 mm requiring single crystalline material and (2) the dependence on fabrication techniques developed by the electronics industry for processing this material. However, it is a particularly poor choice for the larger thermally based devices that characterize Microtechnology-Based Energy and Chemical Systems. The room temperature thermal conductivity of silicon is approximately 150 (W/mK). Use of this material leads to high rates of heat transmission across the short distances where temperature gradients occur. The thermal conductivity of silicon above 10001C falls to below 25 W/mK, but the average value can still be high. (more…)

Energy labeling is a policy tool that informs consumers about the energy performance of appliances and thereby encourages them to purchase appliances that provide the services they need with less energy consumption. In providing information to consumers about equipment energy consumption and operating costs that would otherwise be invisible or unavailable, energy labeling enables consumers to make more balanced and rational purchasing decisions. Energy labels can also help consumers to identify the most efficient products on the market. In effect, energy labeling attempts to provide a market ‘‘pull’’ for more energy-efficient products while simultaneously presenting information that might discourage the purchase of less efficient products. (more…)

It is important to remember that labeling and MEPS programs aim to influence the selection of products by consumers at the point of sale by making higher efficiency units more attractive (through labeling) or by making less efficient ones unavailable (through MEPS). Labeling or MEPS cannot be expected to have any significant ongoing influence on consumers’ use of products once they have been purchased and installed. (more…)

Energy exists in many forms. Some of energy forms are simple to use and identify as energy. But other forms of energy can not be seen until the energy released. Some forms of energy like light and sound, they carry energy from one place to another. There are also vibrating objects that carry the kinetic energy that makes the sound. The energy passes through the wave where the wave was originated. The higher the wave, it gives more energy. Light is also one form of energy. A light beam or light ray brings out energy from where there was light. This energy is often referred to as radiation energy. (more…)