The Future of Energy

Brian F. Towler

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9780128010273
• eBook ISBN: 9780128010655
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Energy Industry
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Using the principle that extracting energy from the environment always involves some type of impact on the environment, The Future of Energy discusses the sources, technologies, and tradeoffs involved in meeting the world's energy needs. A historical, scientific, and technical background set the stage for discussions on a wide range of energy sources, including conventional fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal, as well as emerging renewable sources like solar, wind, geothermal, and biofuels. Readers will learn that there are no truly "green" energy sources—all energy usage involves some tradeoffs—and will understand these tradeoffs and other issues involved in using each energy source.- Each potential energy source includes discussions of tradeoffs in economics, environmental, and policy implications- Examples and cases of implementing each technology are included throughout the book- Technical discussions are supported with equations, graphs, and tables- Includes discussions of carbon capture and sequestration as emerging technologies to manage carbon dioxide emissions

Chapter 1

The History and Culture of Energy

Abstract

Why is the supply of energy so important? Is it something we can reduce or do without? In this chapter I discuss how the most successful civilizations throughout history have been the ones that maximized their energy throughput. The energy sources have changed over time from human labor to animal labor to biomass, and we currently live in an era when hydrocarbon energy has ruled. This era of hydrocarbon energy has made energy so cheap that it has profoundly raised the standard of living for vast numbers of people. But energy use comes at a cost. Because energy is part of the environment, its use is going to have an impact on the environment. I refer to this relationship between energy use and the environment as the Towler Principle.

Keywords

history of energy

energy and culture

Towler Principle

Energy is the lifeblood of any civilization. Throughout history, the most successful civilizations have been those that have maximized their energy throughput and made good use of the resources at their disposal. Accessing this energy, however, is not always easy; in order to have access, it has to be cheap enough for the average person to afford and it has to be readily available. Without this access, people are condemned to live in poverty, without technology, and with a menial standard of living.

One of the major concerns of society today is the shortage of energy. People feel that the world is running out of cheap energy (particularly oil) and that there is a potential for energy wars in the future. These wars will be waged as civilization struggles to get access to the remaining sources of energy needed to fuel its economies and lifestyles. Moreover, as shortages develop, people feel that western civilization is being held hostage to hostile regimes (mostly in the Middle East) that control the energy supplies. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is plenty of cheap energy still available; however, circumstances are demanding that as cheap conventional oil runs out, there will be a need to switch to alternative energy sources.

Another major social concern is the rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere which could potentially lead to runaway global warming. In order to solve this problem, some believe there is a need to switch to clean renewable sources of energy—particularly wind power, solar power, ethanol, and biomass. The truth is that all sources of energy, no matter how “green,” impact the environment. This leads to a principle that I propose and will return to repeatedly in this book: Energy is the essence of the universe, and it is not possible to extract energy from the environment for use without having an impact on the environment. This is a fundamental principle that I call the Towler Principle.

The Towler Principle

It is not possible to extract energy from the environment without having an impact on the environment.

There are many forms of energy that can be converted into other forms of energy according to our needs and requirements. By examining the various forms and sources of energy, you will see that each of them has an impact on the environment as we extract them and use them; however the undesirable effects can be changed or minimized according to our needs. For example, the carbon dioxide problem may be reduced or eliminated by switching to wind power, solar power, ethanol, and biomass. Unfortunately, the end result is that these actions may have other intolerable effects that will be discussed later in this book.

What can we do to ensure minimal effect to the environment regardless of the energy sources chosen? How do we protect our environment and sustain it for future generations? An alternative solution to the carbon dioxide problem could be carbon capture and sequestration. The technology for this already exists and can be further improved. This technology only applies to point sources of carbon such as coal and gas-fired power plants. There is also a need to develop greener and more efficient building technologies and add cleaner renewable energy sources into the mix. In order to reduce the carbon effect of automobiles, there may be a greater need to move toward electric vehicles so that any carbon dioxide generated in the process can be captured at the point where the electricity is generated. The future is bright; there is plenty of energy available, but much change is afoot. This is the preeminent technical challenge of our time, one that will require significant political will and technical drive.

The History of Energy Use

According to physicists, the universe began with a “big bang.” About 14 billion years ago, all the mass and energy of the universe was concentrated at a single point. This mass exploded, commenced expanding from that point and is still expanding today. Physicists have identified four fundamental forces of nature: gravity, electromagnetic force, strong nuclear force, and weak nuclear force. They also identified the physical principles that govern all the processes in the universe. Two of these physical principles are that mass and energy are always conserved. According to Albert Einstein, there is an equivalence between mass and energy and, under certain processes and circumstances, these two entities can be converted into one another. When he discovered this equivalence and published his famous equation (E = mc²), Einstein was demonstrating that the very fabric of the universe is energy. If we extract energy from a source and use it, something will be left behind as a result of that action.

When homo sapiens first evolved in Africa, their great advantages were their large brains and their ability to outwit the fierce creatures that considered them prey. This large brain required increased energy resources to fuel itself, energy resources that came from an omnivorous diet of meat, grain, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. As civilizations developed about 15,000 years ago, in Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley, the successful civilizations were the ones that learned how to perform their tasks efficiently. To do this, they had to maximize the energy throughput of their society.

In his book The Evolution of Culture (1959), anthropologist Leslie White acknowledges the key role played by the harnessing of energy in the development of civilizations. Initially, energy fueled the human bodies that provided the labor to hunt and gather and then to work the fields as mankind turned to agriculture. The next step in energy utilization was the domestication of animals such as horses and oxe...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: The History and Culture of Energy
• Chapter 2: How Is Energy Measured
• Chapter 3: Energy Science and Thermodynamics
• Chapter 4: Environmental Issues
• Chapter 5: Crude Oil
• Chapter 6: Natural Gas
• Chapter 7: Nuclear Energy
• Chapter 8: Solar Power
• Chapter 9: Wind Energy
• Chapter 10: Hydroelectricity
• Chapter 11: Geothermal Energy
• Chapter 12: Ethanol, Biodiesel, and Biomass
• Chapter 13: Coal and Clean Coal Technologies
• Chapter 14: Carbon Capture and Storage
• Chapter 15: Hydrogen
• Chapter 16: What Is the Future of Energy? An Energy Policy for the United States
• Appendix A: The Carnot Cycle
• Appendix B: Hubbert’s Peak Oil Theory from Chapter 5
• Bibliography
• Glossary
• Index