The Little Book of Big Energy: Understanding Global Energy Consumption

Our society is powered by burning fossil fuels. Oil, coal and natural gas supply 82% of the world’s energy. Replacing this energy with renewable energy is a truly enormous challenge. We will be very fortunate if renewable energy can rise to 50% of total energy consumed in 50 years.

This book is not aimed at engineers, scientists or policy makers. Rather, it is written for anyone interested in understanding the magnitude of our energy consumption. No technical background is assumed.

Following a brief discussion of energy and power, using food calories as a starting point, the world’s yearly energy usage is described. Our limited fossil fuel reserves are discussed. Several possible candidates to replace our fossil fuels are discussed. Some of our renewable sources of energy will likely require extensive battery storage of electrical energy. The solution will likely require many technologies and may be ever changing.