A Deeper Look at the Energy Picture
October 31, 2012
Today, energy policy is everybody’s business, and everyone should understand the policy choices and trade-offs under discussion. Which energy sources cause the most damage to natural habitats and which produce the most greenhouse gas pollution? What are the health and economic ramifications of mountaintop-removal coal mining? Will new technology and renewables solve all our energy problems? Can efficiency keep pace with consumption in a growth society?
This document includes the complete text of Part I. A Deeper Look at the Energy Picture from The ENERGY Reader and ENERGY. (On the original book website energy-reality.org it was also presented a section titled “The Energy Picture”.) It includes these topics:
- Introduction: Energy Literacy
- Energy and the Scaffolding of Civilization
- What Is Energy?
- Net Energy
- Energy Density
- Embodied Energy
- Energy Slaves
- Energy-Fueled Population Growth
- Energy-Fueled Economic Growth
- Peak Oil and Resource Depletion
- Energy Sprawl
- Visual Blight
- Climate Change
- Energy Conservation
- Efficiency
- Curtailment Writ Large