Global Energy Consumption & Energy Demand in Electricity and Transportation

global energy demand
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…)

Long-Term Biofuel Industry Growth Remains Strong

biofuel industry
Biofuels are made from living matter, plant or animal, and are strongly favored by agricultural interests because of the large boost they bring to domestic farms. Most U.S. biofuels is made from corn (ethanol) or soybeans (biodiesel), although several unusual fuel sources are emerging, including algae and oil waste from deep-frying of foods. The biofuels industry experienced meteoric growth in 2005, 2006 and early 2007, but then it began to slow because of high feedstock prices. Private investment in biofuels finished off 2007 at $2.1 billion, according to ‘Global Trends in Sustainable Energy’, a report by New Energy Finance and United Nations Environmental program. (more…)

Social and Environmental Implications of the Direct Energy Use Patterns of Households

environmental implications energy households
Lack of access to cleaner energy and the negative outwardnesses associated with energy consumption tend to cycle of poverty for poor households in developing countries. Because the poor lack access to, and often can not to afford cleaner and higher quality fuels and electricity and are therefore dependent on poor and inefficient burning biofuels such as wood and dung. (more…)

The Future of Biofuels Usage and Energy Crops

biofuels usage
One of the main benefits from future use of biofuels would be the reduction of greenhouse gases compared to the use of fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, is released into the air from combustion. Twenty-four percent of worldwide energy-related carbon emissions in 1997 were from the United States. Carbon and due to rising energy consumption, are expected to increase 1.3 percent per year through 2015. (more…)

Biomass Resources as Major Factor Towards Sustainable Energy System

biomass energy resources
Biomass has been a main energy sources in the world since the beginning of civilization. It has been important in development processes, including early stages of industrialization in several countries. In Sweden, for example, the first concerns about preservation date from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, resulting from the recognition of the central role played by forests in energy provision. Biomass was also essential in the initial development of the iron industry in Sweden and, later on, the same happened in Brazil, where charcoal is still largely utilized in iron reduction. Biomass remains a major source of energy in many countries. (more…)