Power Hungry (56 page)

4
Robert Farago, “Editorial: The Truth About Rare Earths and Hybrids,”
International Business Times
, July 23, 2009,
http://www.ibtimes.com/contents/20090723/editorial-truth-about-rare-earths-and-hybrids.htm
.

5
Energy Information Administration, “U.S. Imports by Country of Origin,”
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_a2_nus_ep00_im0_mbblpd_a.htm
.

6
BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2009,
http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/reports_and_publications/statistical_energy_review_2008/STAGING/local_assets/2009_downloads/renewables_section_2009.pdf
.

7
For the first ten months of 2009, OPEC production was about 28 million barrels per day. Global consumption is about 84 million barrels per day. See
MEES.com
, “OPEC Crude Oil Production,” n.d.,
http://www.mees.com/Energy_Tables/crude-oil.htm
.

8
Wikipedia, “Deng Xiaoping,”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deng_Xiaoping
. For Deng quote, see Farago, “Editorial: The Truth About Rare Earths and Hybrids.”

9
“Molycorp Minerals: Global Outlook,” n.d.,
http://www.molycorp.com/globaloutlook.asp
.

10
Farago, “Editorial: The Truth About Rare Earths and Hybrids.”

11
Leo Lewis, “Crunch Looms for Green Technology as China Tightens Grip on Rare-Earth Metals,”
Times
(London), May 28, 2009,
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article6374603.ece
.

12
Steve Gorman, “As Hybrid Cars Gobble Rare Metals, Shortage Looms,” Reuters, September 2, 2009,
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-BusinessofGreen/idUSTRE57U02B20090902
; Keith Bradsher, “China Tightens Grip on Rare Minerals,”
New York Times
, September 1, 2009,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/business/global/01minerals.html?_r=1&sq=neodymium&st=Search&scp=1&pagewanted=all
.

13
Gorman, “As Hybrid Cars Gobble Rare Metals.”

14
David Trueman, interview with author by phone, August 31, 2009.

15
National Science Foundation, “Science and Engineering Indicators 2008: Presentation Slides,” January 2008,
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind08/slides.htm
.

16
Ibid. See slide entitled “World Share of High-Technology Manufacturing by Region/Country: 1985–2005.”

17
First Solar, 2009 10-K report,
http://investor.firstsolar.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=201491&p=irol-sec&seccat01.1_rs=11&seccat01.1_rc=10
.

18
Jack Lifton, interview with author, August 28, 2009; David Trueman, interview with author, August 30, 2009.

19
Kate Galbraith, “More Sun for Less: Solar Panels Drop in Price,”
New York Times
, August 26, 2009,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/business/energy-environment/27solar.html
.

20
“Molycorp Minerals: Global Outlook.”

21
Keith Bradsher, “China Racing Ahead of US in the Drive to Go Solar,”
New York Times
, August 24, 2009,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/business/energy-environment/25solar.html
.

22
Christopher Calnan, “City Council Gives Austin Energy the Go-Ahead for Major Solar Project,”
Austin Business Journal
, March 5, 2009,
http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2009/03/02/daily49.html
.

23
Tom Zeller Jr. and Keith Bradsher, “Jobs Question Jeopardizes Wind Farm's Stimulus Deal,”
New York Times
, November 5, 2009,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/06/business/energy-environment/06wind.html?_r=1
.

1
Robert Bryce, “Not by Energy Efficiency Alone,”
Energy Tribune
, March 18, 2008,
http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm?aid=820
.

2
House Energy and Commerce Committee, American Clean Energy and Security Act, 2009,
http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090515/hr2454.pdf
.

3
Energy Information Administration, “World Carbon Intensity—World Carbon Dioxide Emissions from the Consumption and Flaring of Fossil Fuels Per Thousand Dollars of Gross Domestic Product Using Market Exchange Rates, 1980–2006,”
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/international/iealf/tableh1gco2.xls
.

4
Energy Information Administration, “World Energy Intensity—Total Primary Energy Consumption Per Dollar of Gross Domestic Product Using Purchasing Power Parities, 1980–2006,”
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/international/iealf/tablee1p.xls
. Note that energy intensity fell faster in about seventeen countries not listed here, including Chad, Guam, Laos, and Afghanistan.

5
Energy Information Administration, Table 1.7, “Primary Energy Consumption Per Real Dollar of Gross Domestic Product,” Monthly Energy Review, May 2009,
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mer/pdf/pages/sec1_16.pdf
.

6
Energy Information Administration, Table 1.7, “Primary Energy Consumption Per Real Dollar of Gross Domestic Product,”
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mer/pdf/pages/sec1_16.pdf
.

7
The U.S. population in 1980 was 227.7 million. See U.S. Census Bureau, “No. HS-1. Population: 1900 to 2002,” in
Statistical Abstract of the United States
, 2003,
http://www.census.gov/statab/hist/HS-01.pdf
. In 2006, the U.S. population was about 300 million. See Associated Press, “US Population Hits 300 Million Mark,” October 17, 2006,
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15298443/
.

8
It's worth noting that more than forty countries saw bigger per-capita declines during that time period, including Afghanistan, North Korea, and nearly two dozen African countries. That data is omitted here for the sake of brevity. The five countries with the biggest per-capita declines in energy use include, in order, Liberia, Guam, Afghanistan, Chad, and Somalia. All saw declines of more than 50 percent.

9
Ibid.

10
EnchantedLearning.com
, “U.S. States (plus Washington, D.C.),” n.d.,
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/area.shtml
.

11
New York Times
, “France,”
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/france/index.html
.

12
New York Times
, “Switzerland,”
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/switzerland/index.html
.

13
According to
EnchantedLearning.com
, Oklahoma covers 69,900 miles (
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/area.shtml
). According to the CIA World Factbook, Puerto Rico covers 13,790 square kilometers, or about 5,300 square miles (
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2147rank.html
).

14
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Table 1-11, “Number of U.S. Aircraft, Vehicles, Vessels, and Other Conveyances,” n.d.,
http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_01_11.html
. The 1973 number is my estimate based on 1970 and 1975 data.

15
Energy Information Administration, “Petroleum Navigator,”
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mttupus2a.htm
.

16
U.S. Department of Transportation, “Historical Monthly VMT Report,” n.d.,
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/travel/tvt/history/
.

17
Energy Information Administration, “Petroleum Navigator.”

18
Nuclear Energy Institute, “Resources and Stats: Generation Statistics,” n.d.,
http://www.nei.org/resourcesandstats/graphicsandcharts/generationstatistics/
.

19
In July 2009, sales of large SUVs had fallen by 45 percent compared to July 2008. Pickup truck sales fell by 20 percent. During the same time period, sales of small and medium-sized cars were also down, but their declines were much smaller, 5 percent and 9 percent, respectively. There were only two vehicles to show positive sales growth in July 2009, and they were both midsized cars: the Ford Fusion and the Volkswagen Jetta, which saw their sales increase by 4.3 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively. Data from Wall Street Journal online, “Market Data Center: Auto Sales. Overview Charts,”
http://online.wsj.com/mdc//files/22/38/63/f223863/public/page/2_3022-autosales.html
, accessed August 7, 2009.

20
Whitehouse.gov
, “President Obama Announces National Fuel Efficiency Policy,” May 19, 2009,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Announces-National-Fuel-Efficiency-Policy/
.

21
New York Times
, “Culling the Gas Hogs,” August 6, 2009,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/opinion/07fri1.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=fuel%20efficiency%20and%20ford%20f-series&st=cse
.

22
Leslie Guevarra, “Empire State Building to Become a Model of Energy Efficiency,”
GreenerBuildings.com
, April 6, 2009,
http://www.GreenerBuildings.com/news/2009/04/06/empire-state-building-become-model-energy-efficiency
.

23
David Heacock, Dominion Resources, interview with author via phone, May 26, 2009.

24
McKinsey & Company, “Unlocking Energy Efficiency in the US Economy,” July 2009,
http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/electricpowernaturalgas/downloads/US_energy_efficiency_full_report.pdf
, iv.

25
Ibid., 109.

26
Ibid., viii.

27
William Stanley Jevons,
The Coal Question: An Inquiry Concerning the Progress of the Nation, and the Probable Exhaustion of Our Coal Mines
(London: Macmillan, 1866).

28
John Polimeni, interview with author by e-mail, October 20, 2008.

29
For example, see Lorna A. Greening, David L. Greene, and Carmen Difiglio, “Energy Efficiency and Consumption—the Rebound Effect—A Survey,”
Energy Policy
(June 2000): 389–401. See also Kenneth A. Small and Kurt Van Dender, “Fuel Efficiency and Motor Vehicle Travel: The Declining Rebound Effect,”
The Energy Journal
, January 1, 2007.

30
Wikipedia, “James Watt,”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Watt
.

31
William Tucker,
Terrestrial Energy: How Nuclear Power Will Lead the Green Revolution and End America's Energy Odyssey
(Savage, MD: Bartleby Press, 2008), 133.

1
My interviews with climate scientists include talks with Roger Pielke Sr. and Roger Pielke Jr. Both are concerned about the issue of carbon dioxide emissions, but both agree that carbon dioxide may not be the most important issue when talking about potential climate change. The Pielke Sr. interview was published May 16, 2007. See Robert Bryce, “Energy Tribune Speaks with Roger Pielke, Sr.,”
http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm?aid=487&idli=3
. The Pielke Jr. interview was published March 16, 2009. See Robert Bryce, “An Interview with Roger Pielke, Jr., Center for Science and Technology Policy Research,”
http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm?aid=1441
.

2
White House, “Remarks by the President at the National Academy of Sciences Annual Meeting,” April 27, 2009,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-the-National-Academy-of-Sciences-Annual-Meeting/
.

3
Vaclav Smil,
Global Catastrophes and Trends: The Next Fifty Years
(Cambridge: MIT Press, 2008), 180.

4
John M. Broder, “With Something for Everyone, Climate Bill Passed,”
New York Times
, June 30, 2009,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/us/politics/01climate.html
.

5
For an example of this, see
Climateprogress.org
.

6
Mark Twain,
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
, Chapter 21. Available at
http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/t/twain/mark/finn/chapter21.html
.

7
BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2009,
http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/reports_and_publications/statistical_energy_review_2008/STAGING/local_assets/2009_downloads/renewables_section_2009.pdf
.

8
Population figures via Central Intelligence Agency, World Factbook,
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/xx.html
.

9
International Energy Agency,
World Energy Outlook 2008
, Table 16.2, “Energy-Related CO
₂
Emissions by Region in the Reference Scenario.”

10
BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2009.

11
Bibhudatta Pradhan, “India Rejects Any Greenhouse-Gas Cuts Under New Climate Treaty,” Bloomberg, June 30, 2009,
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091
&sid=aWs0Pts2Kxes.

12
For an interview with Dyson, see the May 6, 1999, edition of Charlie Rose,
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/4308
.

13
Freeman Dyson, “Heretical Thoughts About Science and Society,”
Edge.org
, August 8, 2007,
http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/dysonf07/dysonf07_index.html
.

14
Robert Bryce, “Gore's Zero Emissions = Zero Sense,” Energy Tribune, August 2007,
http://www.robertbryce.com/01
.

15
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,
http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php
.

16
William Tucker,
Terrestrial Energy: How Nuclear Power Will Lead the Green Revolution and End America's Energy Odyssey
(Savage, MD: Bartleby Press, 2008), 11.