GE1201 Homework #1

Energy efficiency is one of the hottest topics worldwide. It seems every day we hear about a new electric car on the news, see videos of theoretical power plants on Facebook, and advertisements advising various ways to conserve energy in our everyday lives. Globally, energy is consumed on a massive scale, and although a future crisis seems abstract, it is important to monitor how, where, and who uses all of this power to better predict and maintain sustainable economies and environments.

Table 1 shows world total primary energy supply (TPES) in Million tonne of oil equivilent (Mtoe) over time, while comparing how the major energy sources contribute to this total. A quick look at this graph shows that global energy consumption has risen significantly over the past 40 years, from approximately 5500 Mtoe (1971) to nearly 14,000 Mtoe (2013). Additionally, all major sources of energy (coal, oil, natural gas, biofuels, hydro and nuclear) have increased in total usage over the same period of time. Nuclear and biofuel power appear to have had the greatest increase in usage, but still are not nearly as popular a source as the big three of coal, oil and natural gas. This data shows that over the last 40 years, the world TPES has increased significantly. Although greenhouse gas producers have risen in total, 'green energy' has increased as well. This suggests that we will continue to see more and more sources of clean energy implemented in the future, to help accommodate the trend of a worldwide increase in energy consumption. 

Economic advancements play a huge roll in energy consumption. Intuitively, it would be expected that countries with the largest population, and the most technology, will require the most power. Table 1.5 shows that the United States and Japan accounted for 24% and 5% of the world energy consumption in 2002 respectively. In contrast, they contain 4.6% and 2% of the world population. This can be explained by looking at each counties respective World GDP %, of 32% and 12%. Advanced economies control the majority of the worlds wealth, and this is due to technological advancements that in large part consume more and more energy. Figure 1.7 compares Energy Consumption per Capita vs GNP per Capita (US$) for various countries.As expected, countries with the largest amount of GNP per Capita primarily use the most energy, as the U.K, Germany, France, and Sweden fall right on the trendline. The United States appears to be an out layer, as it consumes 300GJ per capita, while France consumes 150 GJ with a similar GNP. Japan takes this a step farther, consuming around 125 GJ while possessing around $25,000 GNP. This would suggest that Japan and France are far more efficient than the US, or simply live less lavish life styles. 

In contrast, the second highest user of global energy consumption is China, accounting for 11%. However, this is likely in large part driven by its large population of 20% worldwide. Developing countries with large populations, such as China and Brazil, will likely see huge spikes in their future energy needs as more technology is introduced to and consumed by their hundreds of millions of people every day. As shown in Figure 1.7, China is near the bottom in terms of energy consumption vs GNP. As a developing nation with a huge population, the average person will not control much of the countries wealth, and without the same technological opportunities as economies such as the US and Japan, won't use a significant amount of energy on a daily basis. This will likely rise in the future as China's economy develops, but due to their large population, and assuming development will initially take place primarily in urban areas only, China likely won't be able to stray as far north of the trendline as counties such as the USA and Canada. 

Using the online quiz, my personal carbon footprint is 24 tons of C02 per year, just slightly under the US average of 27. My home energy consumption has room for improvement, which makes sense while living in a rundown college apartment in Boston. The place doesn't hold heat well, the windows are terrible at insulating, it doesn't heat evenly or efficiently, and many of the lightbulbs cannot be changed over to energy efficient bulbs. I seem to do a good job with recycling and waste, while being slightly above average with my driving and flying. This is likely due to a 40 minute coop commute and 3 significant flights over the past year. When estimated for my future use, my estimated use came out at 21 tons of C02. The largest gain was in home and energy, where I expect to use energy efficient bulbs and appliances, in addition to any new technology that allows me to make energy saving easier. I hope I'll be getting better gas mileage than my current Nissan Maxima, so that should help as well. In addition, as recycling becomes more mainstream, I hope to do so whenever possible.