“It’s ironic that the first successful oil well was drilled in 1859, the same year the great Irish scientist John Tyndall determined that CO2 molecules intercept infrared radiation, a discovery that led to the science of global warming.”

Our Sources Of Energy

Chapter Two

Where Our Energy Comes From And Where It Goes

p. 52 The single largest source... is the production of energy from fossil fuels
Kevin A. Baumert, Timothy Herzog, and Jonathan Pershing, Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy (World Resources Institute 2005). Available at http://www.wri.org/publication/navigating-the-numbers
p. 52 led to a dramatic reduction of Europe's tree cover
Richard Heinberg, The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies (British Columbia: New Society Publishers, 2003).
p. 52 The steam engine and use of steel wheels
Richard Heinberg, The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies (British Columbia: New Society Publishers, 2003).
p. 52 Liquid forms of energy come almost entirely from oil
Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2009 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, May 2009): 22. Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/0484(2009).pdf
p. 52 Liquid fuels... almost all of the energy used in transportation
Kevin A. Baumert, Timothy Herzog, and Jonathan Pershing, Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy (World Resources Institute 2005): 64. Available at http://www.wri.org/publication/navigating-the-numbers
p. 52 more than half of all oil use... less than 6 percent is used
Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2009 (Washington, DC: Department of Energy, March 2009). Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/gas.html
p. 54 Overall, oil is now the largest source
Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2009 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, May 2009): 203. Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/0484(2009).pdf
p. 54 the burning of petroleum products produces about 30 percent less
Energy Information Administration, “Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program: Fuel and Energy Source Codes and Emissions Coefficients.” Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/coefficients.html
p. 54 the first successful oil well... 1859
Brian Bowling, “Boom and bust for first oil well driller Edwin Drake,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 6, 2008. Available at http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/specialreports/250-anniversary/s_576222.html
p. 54 the same year... Tyndall determined that CO2 molecules
Stephanie Pain, “The man who discovered greenhouse gases,” New Scientist, May 13, 2009. Available at http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227081.500-the-man-who-discovered-greenhouse-gases.html?full=true
p. 54 Gas now provides for approximately 23 percent
Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2009 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, May 2009): 203. Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/0484(2009).pdf
p. 54 Almost 40 percent of all natural gas... chemical feedstock
Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2009 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, May 2009): 203. Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/0484(2009).pdf
p. 54 almost one third of natural gas has gone... electricity
Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2009 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, May 2009): 203. Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/0484(2009).pdf
p. 54 almost 20 percent is used... heating and cooking
Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2009 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, May 2009): 203. Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/0484(2009).pdf
p. 54 oil produces 40 percent more CO2 than gas, and coal creates 40 percent more than oil [Caption]
Energy Information Administration, “Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program: Fuel and Energy Source Codes and Emissions Coefficients.” Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/coefficients.html
p. 54 Carbon Dioxide From Carbon-Based Fuels [Graphic]
Bioenergy Feedstock Development Programs, “Bioenergy Conversion Factors,” Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Available at http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/papers/misc/energy_conv.html

Dennis Silverman, “Energy Units and Conversions,” U.C. Irvine, Department of Physics and Astronomy. Available at http://www.physics.uci.edu/~silverma/units.html

Tulsa Gas Technologies, “How Natural Gas Is Measured and Sold.” Available at http://www.tulsagastech.com/measure.html
p. 55 methane... produces only 70 percent of the CO2... same amount of energy
Energy Information Administration, “Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program: Fuel and Energy Source Codes and Emissions Coefficients.” Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/coefficients.html
p. 55 one fifth of the CO2 produced in the energy marketplace
Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2009 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, May 2009): 109. Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/0484(2009).pdf
p. 55 best new gas-fired power plants... twice as efficient
Keith Bradsher, “China Outpaces U.S. in Cleaner Coal-Fired Plants,” The New York Times, May 10, 2009. Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/world/asia/11coal.html
p. 55 The invention of incandescent lighting... 1879
Randall E. Stross, The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World (New York: Crown Publishers, 2007): 96.
p. 55 invention of alternating current... nine years later
Nikola Tesla, “A New System of Alternate Current Motors and Transformers,” The Electrical Engineer, June 15, 1888: 568. Available at http://books.google.com/books?vid=0XG_sLtIydoOYRPzdNH&id=USQAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA568&lpg=PA568#v=onepage&q=&f=false
p. 55 a large percentage of the energy contained... inefficient conversion to electrical current
Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2009 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, May 2009): 203. Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/0484(2009).pdf
p. 55 More than 40 percent of all the electricity... burning coal... natural gas
Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2009 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, May 2009): 203. Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/0484(2009).pdf
p. 55 Hydroelectric dams provide 18 percent... nuclear power... solar, wind, and geothermal
Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2009 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, May 2009): 203. Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/0484(2009).pdf
p. 57 oil, coal, and natural gas still provide 86.5 percent
Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2009 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, May 2009): 203. Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/0484(2009).pdf
p. 57 all of the oil, coal, and natural gas in the world... 50 days from the sun
Jose Goldemberg (ed.), “Chapter 5: Energy Resources,” World Energy Assessment: Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability (New York: United Nations Development Programme, 2000): 149, 168. Available at http://www.undp.org/energy/activities/wea/drafts-frame.html
p. 57 every hour is theoretically equal to the entire world's energy use
Jose Goldemberg (ed.), “Chapter 5: Energy Resources,” World Energy Assessment: Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability (New York: United Nations Development Programme, 2000): 168. Available at http://www.undp.org/energy/activities/wea/drafts-frame.html

Note:
Calculation based on “Theoretical Potential” of solar energy in Table 5.26 of the UN Report and annual world energy use of 472.4 quadrillion btu from: Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2009 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, May 2009): 203. Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/0484(2009).pdf
p. 57 it would take only seven days' worth of sunlight... annual energy needs
Jose Goldemberg (ed.), “Chapter 5: Energy Resources,” World Energy Assessment: Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability (New York: United Nations Development Programme, 2000): 163. Available at http://www.undp.org/energy/activities/wea/drafts-frame.html

Note:
Calculation based on midpoint of the “Technical Potential” range of solar energy resources in Table 5.19 of the UN Report (25,700 EJ) and annual world energy use of 472.4 quadrillion btu from: Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2009 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, May 2009): 203. Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/0484(2009).pdf
p. 57 Thomas Edison said... “I'd put my money on the sun... tackle that”
Heather Rogers, “Current Thinking,” The New York Times Magazine, June 3, 2007.
p. 57 one month's worth of the energy that could be captured from wind and from geothermal energy... entire energy use for a year
Goldemberg, José (ed.), “Chapter 5: Energy Resources,” World Energy Assessment: Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability (New York: United Nations Development Programme, 2000): 168. Available at http://www.undp.org/energy/activities/wea/drafts-frame.html

Note:
Calculation based on “Theoretical Potential” of wind energy and “Technical Potential” of geothermal energy in Table 5.26 of the UN Report and annual world energy use of 472.4 quadrillion btu from: Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2009 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, May 2009): 203. Available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/0484(2009).pdf
p. 58 Moore's Law
Jo Twist, “Law that has driven digital life,” BBC News, April 18, 2005. Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4449711.stm