2.+Where+Our+Energy+Comes+From+and+Where+It+Goes

=Chapter 2, Nick Otte= =__**WHERE OUR ENERGY COME FROM AND WHERE IT GOES**__=

__**//Understanding our sources of energy//**__
-The Largest man-made global warming pollution = fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas)**P1** (In the picture P1 one can see, which of the sources is most used in the U.S. and how it has gotten more and more over the past 50 years)

__//**Liquid fuels**//__


-Liquid fuels almost only come from oil, and have different characteristics than electricity or gas. -Because liquid fuels are easily stored they contain more energy than coal, and account to most of the transportation in our world. Less than 10% is used for heating in homes, and less than 6% used for generating electricity -Oil at the moment is the largest source of energy we use, providing much more energy than coal or gas. However petroleum products produce 30% less Co2 when burning. -Most nations are dependent on foreign sources for oil, which market is dominated by the Middle Eastern countries.

__//**Natural Gas**//__
-Natural gas is the second primary form of energy that we use -Gas now provides 23% of the worlds energy consumption, which 40% of are used in industries for heating etc. -One third of the gas is being used for producing electricity and 20% directly in homes for cooking etc. -Due to methane having more atoms, than coal or oil, it produces 70% of Co2 produced by oil and 50% produced by coal for the same amount of energy. Due to this many consider natural gas an important transition fuel in moving away from coal and oil. -Problem: To overcome the reduction of co2 that is needed we would have to totally shift away from gas, coal and oil.

__//**Electricity**//__
-Electricity is made from sources as diverse as coal, sunlight, and wind. -Electricity is responsible for delivering a large part of the worlds energy. - Although electricity is so widely spread, it also has disadvantages. Disadvantages: -a large amount of electricity is lost -Electricity is expensive to store -Due to the demand of electricity growing rapidly, the production of man-made coal has grown exponentially. More than 40% of electricity is produced by burning coal and 20% from burning natural gas. -The remainder of electricity comes from Hydroelectric dams(18%), nuclear power (15%) and a very small amount from solar, wind and geothermal sources, which should grow rapidly over the next centuries.

__//**Renewable sources of energy**//__
-Together oil, coal and natural gas produce 85,5% of energy we use on earth. Together they are the single largest cause of global warming. Due to this we are looking for new alternatives, which don’t produce hug amounts of Co2. -The problem with finding alternative energy is that it is very limited, due to the fact that it is to expensive to make it worth while -Our sun, wind and water, could produces enough energy on their own for the entire earths need of energy.

__//**Making renewable energy affordable**//__


Problem: large investment needed to create cost effective renewable energy. Positive: all of the energy gets more expensive, except for renewable energy, which gets cheaper due to three reasons:
 * 1) Once the renewable infrastructure is built, the energy is free.
 * 2) Renewable energy can be rapidly improved over the years, by making it more efficient and reduce its cost.
 * 3) Once the whole world starts using renewable energy, all the solar panels, windmills etc. Would get cheaper.

Nick Otte