Summary:
It was not until the mid twentieth century that fossil fuels became regarded as a major energy resource. In this chapter, Vaclav talks about the adoption of fossil fuels as the major energy resource of the world. He notes that without the aid of fossil fuels, our modern day society might not have come to be. On the other hand, some new energy sources such as nuclear power have destructive potential. All in all, modern human lifestyles owe a lot thanks to fossil fuels.
Terms:
~Catalytical: Chemistry/Chemical
~Smelting: The process of melting or fusing, mainly used in ore refining.
Comments:
~This chapter also mentions other major power sources from the twentieth century such as hydro turbines, nuclear reactors, and fertilizer. Hydro turbines and nuclear reactors account for a great deal of the remaining power (other than fossil fuels.) Nitrogen fertilizers provide an important source of energy(food) for humans. All three of these technologies led towards the industrialization of the world!
~The thermal efficiency of power systems slowly declines over the course of time.
Questions:
~As time progresses, fuel sources become increasingly hazardous. Is there a way to determine if an energy source will negatively impact the globe before it is mass produced?
~What will happen if we run out of fossil fuels, and alternative energy sources are not yet found? Would society take a great leap backwards?
~What caused the need for a greater source of energy?
1. It's not clear that fuels do become increasingly hazardous. Oil and gas have fewer combustion impacts than coal (though getting them from tar sands or gas shales does increase the extraction impact). But to get to your question, basic ecology suggests that _any_ energy source used in large amounts will have some significant negative impact. The more difficult questions are which energy sources have more or less acceptable impacts, and what impacts we're willing to accept or trade-off in return for the conveniences and (by now) necessities that large energy flows provide.
ReplyDelete2. It is impossible to rule out the discovery of some incredible new efficiency that allows us to have our current way of life on a lot less energy, but the laws of thermodynamics mean there's only a limited conceptual space for such an innovation to exist. Barring that, yes, running out of (easily accessible) fossil fuels without discovering alternatives will mean massive changes in how we live. It's unclear whether that's back to an 18th or 19th century life style, or to some dysfunctional version of that lifestyle (since most of us have lost the skills that made that lifestyle work), or we find our way forward to something new and satisfying but low-energy.
3. No one thing caused a need for more energy. It was more that we discovered these sources, then built societies that could utilize them, then discovered more, and built more, and on and on.