Archives
March 2007
Saturday, March 10, 2007
6:37:00 PM EST
How Big Are We?
By Dave Cohen
It is not possible to grasp the meaning of America’s energy needs without an answer to a fundamental question. That question is, “How much energy do we consume in any given period of time?” That answer is critical to understanding our needs and creating a workable plan for the future. Without that knowledge, there is a very real danger that we will waste time, money and lives creating mistaken or unworkable plans or ideas for the future.
The rate of consumption of energy is technically known as power. Power is normally expressed in the electrical world in watts, or more conveniently in its larger unit, kilowatts. What is a watt? In the metric system, it is defined as the power that is expended to raise a weight of 1 kilogram (or ~ 2.2 pounds) by a height of 10.2 centimeters (or ~ 4 inches) in a 1 second time span at sea level gravity conditions. The kilowatt is 1000 times more powerful, and will raise a weight of 1 kilogram by a height of 102 meters (~335 feet) in 1 second. For those readers who prefer to express power in terms of horsepower, it is helpful to know that a kilowatt equals 1.341 horsepower and expends heat units at the rate of 3413 BTUs per hour. (BTU stands for British thermal unit.)
Answering the original question, this writer has estimated from public sources that the U.S. is currently at least a 3.4 trillion watt society. That accounts for our daily average consumption of all thermal and renewable energy sources from our electrical grid, and includes our total daily fossil fuel consumption. If we are to maintain a healthy economy, our country needs to maintain this capability and possibly to expand it as our population and energy dependency grows. It is that number which becomes the engine of our industrial economy and our way of life.
We must answer four questions.
1. How much power will we need in the future?
2. What type of energy sources will be necessary?
3. When will we need it? A timetable is required.
4. How will we finance it?
In the next three decades, we will be facing a serious decline in our fossil energy resources, particularly petroleum and natural gas. We therefore must formulate a plan to completely replace the predicted shortfalls with alternative energy sources. Those combined sources must be able to produce a flow of energy of sufficient magnitude to more than make up for the expected decline in fossil fuel availability.
In order to address the predicted global warming issues that have been anticipated from burning carbon based fossil fuels, we must plan to eliminate the use of fossil fuel wherever possible. That requires us to plan our future around the use of renewable or fossil carbon free energy for all applications except aircraft. Aircraft will still require natural or synthetic petroleum type fuels to meet the extraordinary energy density requirements needed for flight.
It is possible to derive 3.4 trillion watts entirely from renewable or carbon free energy sources. Those sources are hydroelectric dams, wind turbines, geothermal hot spots within the earth, solar radiation, tidal bores, and lastly nuclear reactors eventually of the breeder type. We must build enough of these systems within the next 3 decades to replace all the anticipated energy shortfalls and to avoid a military meltdown as well as an economic catastrophe.
What if I am wrong about this? What if we find more oil and gas? Then we won’t need all this effort, or will we? Are we as a society willing to wager that all will be well? Would it not be better to eliminate CO2 and other pollutants? Are we willing to wager the health of our economy and our continued survival on not doing any of this?
What will we do with 3.4 trillion watts of electrical power sources? We will make hydrogen from water for clean fuel cell powered vehicles. We will power our electrical grid without the need for coal, gas, or oil. We will recharge batteries for portable power. We will heat dwellings electrically. We will run most industrial processes electrically. We will retort oil shale electrically to manufacture aviation fuel. In short, we will do everything we need to do with the energy that will be available. Our grandchildren and great grandchildren will live in a clean and economically healthy society. Global warming may even be reversed.
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6:37:00 PM EST
How Much Energy Does America Consume?
How Big Are We?
By Dave Cohen
It is not possible to grasp the meaning of America’s energy needs without an answer to a fundamental question. That question is, “How much energy do we consume in any given period of time?” That answer is critical to understanding our needs and creating a workable plan for the future. Without that knowledge, there is a very real danger that we will waste time, money and lives creating mistaken or unworkable plans or ideas for the future.
The rate of consumption of energy is technically known as power. Power is normally expressed in the electrical world in watts, or more conveniently in its larger unit, kilowatts. What is a watt? In the metric system, it is defined as the power that is expended to raise a weight of 1 kilogram (or ~ 2.2 pounds) by a height of 10.2 centimeters (or ~ 4 inches) in a 1 second time span at sea level gravity conditions. The kilowatt is 1000 times more powerful, and will raise a weight of 1 kilogram by a height of 102 meters (~335 feet) in 1 second. For those readers who prefer to express power in terms of horsepower, it is helpful to know that a kilowatt equals 1.341 horsepower and expends heat units at the rate of 3413 BTUs per hour. (BTU stands for British thermal unit.)
Answering the original question, this writer has estimated from public sources that the U.S. is currently at least a 3.4 trillion watt society. That accounts for our daily average consumption of all thermal and renewable energy sources from our electrical grid, and includes our total daily fossil fuel consumption. If we are to maintain a healthy economy, our country needs to maintain this capability and possibly to expand it as our population and energy dependency grows. It is that number which becomes the engine of our industrial economy and our way of life.
We must answer four questions.
1. How much power will we need in the future?
2. What type of energy sources will be necessary?
3. When will we need it? A timetable is required.
4. How will we finance it?
In the next three decades, we will be facing a serious decline in our fossil energy resources, particularly petroleum and natural gas. We therefore must formulate a plan to completely replace the predicted shortfalls with alternative energy sources. Those combined sources must be able to produce a flow of energy of sufficient magnitude to more than make up for the expected decline in fossil fuel availability.
In order to address the predicted global warming issues that have been anticipated from burning carbon based fossil fuels, we must plan to eliminate the use of fossil fuel wherever possible. That requires us to plan our future around the use of renewable or fossil carbon free energy for all applications except aircraft. Aircraft will still require natural or synthetic petroleum type fuels to meet the extraordinary energy density requirements needed for flight.
It is possible to derive 3.4 trillion watts entirely from renewable or carbon free energy sources. Those sources are hydroelectric dams, wind turbines, geothermal hot spots within the earth, solar radiation, tidal bores, and lastly nuclear reactors eventually of the breeder type. We must build enough of these systems within the next 3 decades to replace all the anticipated energy shortfalls and to avoid a military meltdown as well as an economic catastrophe.
What if I am wrong about this? What if we find more oil and gas? Then we won’t need all this effort, or will we? Are we as a society willing to wager that all will be well? Would it not be better to eliminate CO2 and other pollutants? Are we willing to wager the health of our economy and our continued survival on not doing any of this?
What will we do with 3.4 trillion watts of electrical power sources? We will make hydrogen from water for clean fuel cell powered vehicles. We will power our electrical grid without the need for coal, gas, or oil. We will recharge batteries for portable power. We will heat dwellings electrically. We will run most industrial processes electrically. We will retort oil shale electrically to manufacture aviation fuel. In short, we will do everything we need to do with the energy that will be available. Our grandchildren and great grandchildren will live in a clean and economically healthy society. Global warming may even be reversed.
Written by jdc2485 Blog about this entry |
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