Energy Consumption Details
3000 Quads
This is more like energy consumption trivia, actually. I find these details fascinating and they give me more of a snapshot feel of what’s actually happening in the real world. Your mileage may vary…
Good news, bad news department
- Over 50 million homes in the U.S. have 3 or more televisions
- In 2009, 58 percent of housing units had energy efficient, multi-pane windows, up from 36 percent in the 1993 survey.
Net effect: In 2005, energy use per household was 95 million British thermal units (Btu) of energy compared with 138 million Btu per household in 1978, a drop of 31 percent.
Canary in the coal mine department
- Kuwait’s energy consumption has increased 66% since 2000
- Figures from Eurogas, a non-profit organization representing natural-gas companies, showed a 12.9% decline in gas consumption in Germany last year. There was a similar decline in the Netherlands, of 12.8%, and falls of 7% in Spain and 6.3% in Italy. Electricity demand also fell sharply in the period, down 11% in Belgium and 11.2% in Switzerland.
Yin or Yang?
- China will allocate 26.5 billion yuan ($4.2 billion) in subsidies to promote the use of energy-saving household appliances and products
- Chinese energy consumption, which is considered a barometer of the economy, grew just 3.7 percent in April from a year earlier – the slowest pace in more than a year. The growth rate in March was 7 percent.
Not sure I get a coherent picture of what’s really happening from this… except that I don’t think it’s possible to take a ‘global’ view of energy consumption at this moment. What we seem to be seeing is the Great Divergence between developed and developing nations. Energy consumption is a part of it, but it certainly seems that it’s larger than that in scope.
Original Article on 3000 Quads
3000 Quads is about energy for the 21st century. The world’s population is now estimated to peak at between 9 and 10 billion people somewhere around 2075. If they use energy at the same rate as the average American, they will consume 3,000 quadrillion btus. That isn’t written in stone–the Danes use half as much energy per person as Americans and they have a pretty good life. The developing world could aim for a Danish lifestyle instead of Yankee over-exuberance. But if it comes to pass, then we face a dilemma. If most of that energy is provided by burning coal, we face something close to disaster. My name is Tom Fuller. I work at a solar power company called Sungevity, a premiere provider of solar power to homeowners in the United States.