Topic
Energy supply
About: Energy supply is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 10274 publications have been published within this topic receiving 163050 citations. The topic is also known as: Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply & NACE D.
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15 Dec 2005
TL;DR: The U.S. Department of Energy and the United States Department of Agriculture have both strongly committed to expanding the role of biomass as an energy source as mentioned in this paper, and they support biomass fuels and products as a way to reduce the need for oil and gas imports; to support the growth of agriculture, forestry, and rural economies; and to foster major new domestic industries making a variety of fuels, chemicals, and other products.
Abstract: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are both strongly committed to expanding the role of biomass as an energy source. In particular, they support biomass fuels and products as a way to reduce the need for oil and gas imports; to support the growth of agriculture, forestry, and rural economies; and to foster major new domestic industries--biorefineries--making a variety of fuels, chemicals, and other products. As part of this effort, the Biomass R&D Technical Advisory Committee, a panel established by the Congress to guide the future direction of federally funded biomass R&D, envisioned a 30 percent replacement of the current U.S. petroleum consumption with biofuels by 2030. Biomass--all plant and plant-derived materials including animal manure, not just starch, sugar, oil crops already used for food and energy--has great potential to provide renewable energy for America's future. Biomass recently surpassed hydropower as the largest domestic source of renewable energy and currently provides over 3 percent of the total energy consumption in the United States. In addition to the many benefits common to renewable energy, biomass is particularly attractive because it is the only current renewable source of liquid transportation fuel. This, of course, makes it invaluable in reducing oil imports--one of our most pressing energy needs. A key question, however, is how large a role could biomass play in responding to the nation's energy demands. Assuming that economic and financial policies and advances in conversion technologies make biomass fuels and products more economically viable, could the biorefinery industry be large enough to have a significant impact on energy supply and oil imports? Any and all contributions are certainly needed, but would the biomass potential be sufficiently large to justify the necessary capital replacements in the fuels and automobile sectors? The purpose of this report is to determine whether the land resources of the United States are capable of producing a sustainable supply of biomass sufficient to displace 30 percent or more of the country's present petroleum consumption--the goal set by the Advisory Committee in their vision for biomass technologies. Accomplishing this goal would require approximately 1 billion dry tons of biomass feedstock per year.
2,637 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors presented a new formula for calculating when fossil fuel reserves are likely to be depleted and developed an econometrics model to demonstrate the relationship between fossil fuel reserve and some main variables.
1,744 citations
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Pacific Northwest National Laboratory1, California Institute of Technology2, Princeton University3, Humboldt University of Berlin4, Pennsylvania State University5, Brookhaven National Laboratory6, University of California, Riverside7, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign8, University of California, Berkeley9, United States Department of Energy10, University of Toronto11, University of Michigan12, University of Amsterdam13, Utah State University14, Max Planck Society15, Louisiana State University16
TL;DR: Providing a future energy supply that is secure and CO_2-neutral will require switching to nonfossil energy sources such as wind, solar, nuclear, and geothermal energy and developing methods for transforming the energy produced by these new sources into forms that can be stored, transported, and used upon demand.
Abstract: Two major energy-related problems confront the world in the
next 50 years. First, increased worldwide competition for
gradually depleting fossil fuel reserves (derived from past
photosynthesis) will lead to higher costs, both monetarily and politically. Second, atmospheric CO_2 levels are at their highest recorded level since records began. Further increases are predicted to produce large and uncontrollable impacts on the world climate. These projected impacts extend beyond climate to ocean acidification, because the ocean is a major sink for atmospheric CO2.1 Providing a future energy supply that is secure and CO_2-neutral will require switching to nonfossil energy sources such as wind, solar, nuclear, and geothermal energy and developing methods for transforming the energy produced by these new sources into forms that can be stored, transported, and used upon demand.
1,651 citations
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TL;DR: Fossil fuels have offered astounding opportunities during the 20th century in the rich countries of the western world, but now mankind has to face the challenges arising from fossil-fuel exploitation.
Abstract: Each generation is confronted with new challenges and new opportunities. In a restricted system like the Earth, however, opportunities discovered and exploited by a generation can cause challenges to the subsequent ones. Fossil fuels have offered astounding opportunities during the 20th century in the rich countries of the western world, but now mankind has to face the challenges arising from fossil-fuel exploitation. The proven reserves of fossil fuels are progressively decreasing, and their continued use produces harmful effects, such as pollution that threatens human health and greenhouse gases associated with global warming. Currently the world&s growing thirst for oil amounts to almost 1000 barrels a second, which means about 2 liters a day per each person living on the Earth (Figure 1). The current global energy consumption is equivalent to 13 terawatts (TW), that is, a steady 13 trillion watts of power demand. How long can we keep running this road?
1,532 citations
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TL;DR: Most of the “new renewable energy sources” are still undergoing large-scale commercial development, but some technologies are already well established and fully competitive with motor gasoline and appropriate for replication in many countries.
Abstract: Renewable energy is one of the most efficient ways to achieve sustainable development. Increasing its share in the world matrix will help prolong the existence of fossil fuel reserves, address the threats posed by climate change, and enable better security of the energy supply on a global scale. Most of the "new renewable energy sources" are still undergoing large-scale commercial development, but some technologies are already well established. These include Brazilian sugarcane ethanol, which, after 30 years of production, is a global energy commodity that is fully competitive with motor gasoline and appropriate for replication in many countries.
1,234 citations