Finding An Energy Solution

Every minute enough of the Sun's energy reaches the Earth's surface to meet the world's energy demands for a whole year. Combine this powerful energy source (the very source of life for our planet) with other readily available energy sources like wind, moving water and heat from within the Earth (geothermal heat), it almost seems incredulous that our human population depends on the burning of fossil fuels to meet nearly all of its energy demands. And this picture doesn't look like it will change very much in the near future. Why fossil fuels? The fossil fuels we largely depend on today are coal, oil and natural gas. They are called non-renewable energy sources. But if you think about it, that description is actually another way of saying we use them faster than they form. Over 100,000 times faster to be exact! So how did we ever decide this would be the primary energy resource to power human development and progress?

It all goes back to human mastery of fire to provide warmth, light and a means of preparing more palatable and easily digestible foods. To the early humans, fire was the equivalent of having a little sun with them wherever they needed or wanted to go. With this energy available at anytime and anyplace, humans could begin to spread about the world and thrive, regardless of the climate or amount of sunlight available. It provided the power for humans to begin their mastery of Earth as a species, less vulnerable to extinction than all other animal species, yet with a greater ability to bring about change -- for good or bad.

It was wood -- a renewable biomass energy source -- that was unquestionably the first fuel used for fire. Although the fossil fuel coal had been used as a fuel since 1,000 B.C., it wasn't until the arrival of the Industrial Revolution from the mid -1700s through the 1800s that coal began to replace biomass as the primary source of energy.

The Industrial Revolution also marks the beginning of an era when the world human population started to explode. Indelibly tied together, both energy consumption and population growth have experienced exponential growth with few exceptions since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. As the population increased, energy demands increased with greater intensity. Naturally, as the population grew and industry advanced, the demand for energy increased exponentially.

The fossil fuels oil and natural gas combined currently provide most of our energy needs. Although they have been used in some form for thousands of years, the massive consumption of them did not start until the late 1800s and early 1900s following their discovery in large quantities in shallow oil reservoirs. "For two decades, non-conventional oils have been mixed with regular crude oil. Peaking time estimation and the rate at which production may be expected to decline, following the peak, are more difficult to determine" (Guseo, R., 2011). In the U.S., the discovery that sparked the oil boom was in Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859 when Edwin L. Drake drilled the world's first oil well that launched the modern petroleum industry. This high energy fuel set the stage for the expansion of industry, but it also led to the development of the automobile. At this time, few considered the non-renewable nature of these fossil fuels and the amounts that would be used in the future.

It wasn't until M. King Hubbert predicted in 1949 that the fossil fuel era would be very short-lived that we began to realize we would one day soon have to rely on other energy sources. Though Hubbert startled the world with his calculated assessment, he followed it in 1956 with the prediction that US oil production would peak around 1970 and decline thereafter. This peak period of world oil discovery and exploitation has become known as Hubbert's Peak.

Indeed, US oil production began to decline in 1971. Since then, world energy use has risen almost 70 percent. Today, more than 50 percent of oil consumed by the US is imported from other nations. According to the US Department of Energy, US dependence on imported oil will reach 64 percent by 2020. World oil use will continue to grow exponentially particularly as developing countries become more industrialized.

In the late 1990s, renowned geophysicist Kenneth S. Deffeyes -- Professor Emeritus at Princeton University -- predicted world oil production decline would occur by 2005; however, many scientists believe the actual decline of oil is now 2020-2040, with the US using 2015 as the projected start of the decline.

By the time the world began to heed Hubbert's prediction, the use of fossil fuels had become so firmly interwoven into human progress and economy that changing this energy system would drastically alter the very way we have lived our lives. Certainly, the production and consumption costs of changing our energy systems have greatly discouraged the development and use of alternate energy resources.

As much as we are now all aware of the impending depletion of our primary fossil fuel reserves -- and the fact that we would like to see renewable and cleaner energy sources take their place -- alternative energy will be challenged to take over as a primary energy supplier for human consumption by the end of this century. It is also widely believed that we will not see alternative fuels become mainstream until fossil fuels become too expensive to produce and consume. And that will happen in the relative near term! The immediate importance of renewables is that their use extends the life of the fossil fuels and provides cleaner alternatives to the fossil fuels.

Consumers in the United States who dislike $4.00-a-gallon gasoline had better get used to it. Despite 35 years of talking about the United States becoming energy independent, the U.S. is more dependent than ever on foreign oil -- and there's no end in sight. The prices likely will rise and our dependence on oil will grow.

The main force behind the run up in the price of oil over the past nine years is increased demand from developing nations. China and India are home to about one-third of the world's people and the economies of both nations are growing rapidly. China's gross domestic product has grown at least 7 percent every year since 1992. A report issued in June by the World Bank forecasts that growth in China will slow to 9.4 percent in 2008, down from 11.9 in 2007. And, since 2004, India's economy has been growing at an annual rate of 7.9 percent or better.

By contrast, the United State economy is considered booming when it is experiencing annual growth of 3-4 percent. From the time China made a major oil discovery in 1959 until 1993, the country was a net exporter of petroleum. Today it is the third leading importer, behind the United States and Japan, the CIA World Fact book reports. India is the