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 relationship of gross national product per capita to energy consumption per capita for most countries of the world correlat ...
The long-term prospects for the U.K. economy are inevitably uncertain, and the most recent Department of Energy long-term proje ...
Transportation is another sector that has increased its relative share of primary energy use. This sector has serious concerns ...
The development of the ‘‘new’’ wind and solar technologies is of great importance for the future contribution of RESs to energy sup ...
To determine the effects of past climate trends on global energy consumption, the econometric equations providing the degree day el ...
Following the recent completion of three nuclear power plants, there is now some 9.6 GW of nuclear capacity in the United Kingdom. The nuclear share of electrical output, which has stood at around 13% for many years, should rise to around 20% when this capacity is in full operation. A further two reactors are currently under construction which will increase the British nuclear capacity to more than 12 GW by the late 1980s, which could bring the nuclear share of electrical output to around 25%. (more…)
Geographers researching the development of nuclear power have shifted emphasis from commercialization, cost, risk, public acceptanc ...
The long-term prospects for the U.K. economy are inevitably uncertain, and the most recent Department of Energy long-term proje ...
Nuclear fission and fusion Research and Development continues to account for nearly half of the total spending by IEA countries, al ...
Sir Arthur Eddington’s general address on subatomic energy at the 1930 World Power Conference in Berlin stirred the imagination of ...
For years it was out of desperation that observers have advised and viewed of American energy policy and geopolitical risks regardi ...
The office copy machines (photocopier) is everywhere. Seven millions unit are in used in the United States and more than 1.5 million are sold each year. Anyone who has worked in an office has probably used at least once or perhaps spend hours making many copies. The copy machines are not cheap, not just the price. Office stencils related equipment is the fastest-growing use of electricity in commercial buildings in the U.S., according to the Department of Energy. The electricity consumed by office equipment companies will cost reaching two million dollar per year and copiers play an important role in this matter. (more…)
It is known that laser printers print faster, but swallow a large amount of energy, even if the printer is in the energy saving ...
After lighting, personal computers (PC) and monitors have the highest energy use in office environments. Studies have shown tha ...
Power generation and distribution networks are built with spare capacity to meet peak periods of energy consumption is usually ...
HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning) systems vary depending on the complexity of room units size from single rooms ...
If a space is occupied on a predictable schedule, you can use either timeclocks or setback thermostats to turn the conditioning ...
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…)
Economists have overwhelmingly favored fuel taxes over fuel economy standards as a means to reduce fuel or gasoline consumption ...
Taxation of energy in the United States, the federal government does not impose an energy tax or a general sales tax that is br ...
Analysis of future light-duty transportation energy use require estimates of the impact of fuel prices on travel and fleet fuel ...
Various provisions in the federal income tax treat energy producers more or less favorably than other businesses. By changing t ...
A number of countries have vehicle tax incentives programs designed to reward purchasers and owners of alternative fuel-efficient v ...
There are various and somewhat complementary reasons to foster the growth of renewable energy sources in Europe. A major incentive for renewable energy sources policies in the past two decades has been to reduce the environmental impact of energy use both locally (e.g., pollutant emission reduction) and globally (e.g., greenhouse gas and carbon emissions reduction). In some countries, concerns about the safety of nuclear power generation have motivated the search for renewable energy sources. Another motivation for replacing foreign fossil and nuclear fuels with domestic renewable energy sources relates to security issues and Europe’s growing dependency on foreign energy sources. (more…)
In Europe, modern renewable energy sources technologies were explored thoroughly for the first time after the oil embargo/ price cr ...
Renewable energy sources cannot run out and causes so little damage to the environment that its use does not need to be restric ...
The development of the ‘‘new’’ wind and solar technologies is of great importance for the future contribution of RESs to energy sup ...
World energy use has increased steadily over the past several decades. Much of the growth in world energy consumption has been ...
Over the last decade, the number of countries researching the potential of biomass and bioenergy for energy services rose rapid ...
It is a rare company prospectus that begins with a quotation from Goethe: “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” But Lovins is not a normal entrepreneur, as anyone who has met this eccentric and disheveled but unmistakably visionary thinker knows. The founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, a leading green think tank based in Old Snowmass, Colorado, thinks the car industry’s incremental approach to cutting emissions and improving fuel efficiency will never amount to much. He wants a complete redesign of the automobile, from the bottom up, and intends to show the big boys how it should be done. (more…)
The leading automotive brands are being focused to produce electric vehicles because they believe they represent a harmony to the e ...
Mercedes-Benz presented at Geneva Style F800 Concept (the F stands for Mercedes: technology, design and art), a prototype that ...
Under both former President Bush and new President Obama, the U.S. government has vowed to reduce reliance on imported oil. The ...
This latter form of new car taxes can actually serve as an impediment to higher fuel economy to the extent that increased energ ...
There are different types of vehicle propulsion systems and the transportation fuels that have been studied for their potential ...
Geopolitical risk refers almost always to primary energy carriers (oil, gas, coal, uranium or renewable energy) since their location depends on the vagaries of geology and climate. Production and energy consumption are thus often physically far apart and take place in countries and regions with different histories, cultures and values. Apart from oil & gas exploration and production, all other steps of the energy chain such as refinement or enrichment, energy conversion and distribution can be moved physically closer to the final customer or are, like consumption, directly under the latter’s control. (more…)
Nuclear energy has some distinct advantages in strengthening the external dimension of energy supply security. These include: ...
The continuous availability and affordability of energy and, in particular, electricity supply is an indispensable condition fo ...
For years it was out of desperation that observers have advised and viewed of American energy policy and geopolitical risks regardi ...
The entire concept of energy independence revolves around using the resources within a country. Simply put, it's "Stay within ...
Following the recent completion of three nuclear power plants, there is now some 9.6 GW of nuclear capacity in the United Kingd ...
Do we have the resources? Rudolf Diesel developed the diesel engine which ran on biodiesel vegetable oil in the late 1800s. At the time, he speculated that his discovery seemed insignificant, but later could prove to be as important as mankind’s uncovering of future energy uses for petroleum and coal tar. Given the U.S.’ rapid expansion into biofuels, it would appear his vision was correct due to the drawbacks of biofuels. But widespread adoption of biomass-based fuels is not a foregone conclusion. Two questions haunt its progress. First, will it truly reduce U.S. reliance on fossil fuels? And second, is there enough farmland to accommodate widespread production, without jeopardizing food supplies? (more…)
Biofuels are made from living matter, plant or animal, and are strongly favored by agricultural interests because of the large ...
We had expressed our disagreement with Biofuels and tell them also that the European Union also wants to distance themselves from t ...
At present, in the United States and worldwide, motor vehicles are fueled almost exclusively by petroleum based gasoline (or re ...
One of the main benefits from future use of biofuels would be the reduction of greenhouse gases compared to the use of fossil f ...
Transportation is another sector that has increased its relative share of primary energy use. This sector has serious concerns ...
Although the focus of many policy studies of climate change is on establishing the causal links between anthropogenic systems, emissions of greenhouse gases climate change, the line of causation also runs the other way. Short-term fluctuations in climate conditions, particularly in the temperate zones on the planet, affect energy consumption. If the popular expectation that the climate will become warmer becomes a reality, we can expect winters and summers that are warmer than those of the past. (more…)
Establishing the impact of climate change on energy demand requires a measure of heating and cooling requirements. In the United St ...
Here, the sensitivity of energy demand to climate is measured two ways. The first method uses elasticities that provide simple summ ...
To determine the effects of past climate trends on global energy consumption, the econometric equations providing the degree day el ...
Energy is consumed by various segments of the economy, including households, commercial establishments, manufacturing enterpris ...
Scientists study Earth’s climate not just from observation but also from a theoretical perspective. Modern-day climate models succe ...
Foundations have made good progress on the energy front, but huge gaps remain. Promising technologies in energy production and use today prove that the prospects for an affluent but low-carbon society are good. But the U.S. and the world economies continue to run primarily on oil and coal. As the largest consumer and producer of energy in the world, the United States has the responsibility to lead the transition to cleaner energy technologies. (more…)
Not surprisingly, most Energy Research and Development takes place in industrialized countries where both the public and private se ...
World energy use has increased steadily over the past several decades. Much of the growth in world energy consumption has been ...
The development of the ‘‘new’’ wind and solar technologies is of great importance for the future contribution of RESs to energy sup ...
Germany is considered a world leader in wind energy deployment, with electricity production from wind having gone up more than eigh ...
Recently, attention to energy efficiency has been gaining momentum. The attention given by policy maker is mainly due to concer ...