EGEE 401
Energy in a Changing World

Unit 1 Discussion

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Unit 1 Discussion: "Energy's Pace of Change"

The Transient Phenomenon of Fossil Fuels
Figure 1.2: The Transient Phenomenon of Fossil Fuels.
‘Beyond Fossil Fuels: Assessing Energy Alternatives’, T.W. Murphy Jr., chapter 15 in ‘State of the World 2013: Is Sustainability Still Possible?’, The Worldwatch Institute, Island Press, 2013.

Most discussions in the remarkable trajectory of human development in the past few years label the phenomenon the Industrial Revolution. This term is apt enough, although it emphasizes the industrious nature of clever humans. An equally important factor--if not more so--has been the abundant supply of cheap surplus energy in the form of fossil fuels. Coal fueled the early stages of the Industrial Revolution, opening the door to accelerated energy-resource discovery and exploitation. Indeed, the first major application of coal was to power steam engines used to pump water out of mines in order to gain access to more coal. Perhaps the Coal Revolution would more accurately represent the transformational change marked by the 19th century.

Fossil fuel stocks are known to be finite, and by most accounts their extraction rates will peak this century. Thus in the long view it is a near certainty that the current age will be known to history as the Fossil Fuel Age. It is the time when humans discovered Earth's battery--solar-charged over millions of years--and depleted it fast enough to effectively constitute a short circuit.

During this epoch, our unprecedented capacity to process materials, manufacture goods, create a "built environment," and revolutionize agricultural productivity has translated into a world of spectacular accomplishments, advanced scientific knowledge, technology that an earlier generation might call magic, sustained economic growth, and a surging population of 7 billion industrially fed human beings. These feats would not have been possible without the bounty of fossil fuels.

In this light, our present state can be seen as a reflection of historically available energy. If depicted in a schematic fashion over the course of a civilization-scale timeline, the general history and future of fossil fuel use will very likely appear as a sharp spike. (See Figure [above]). Humanity now sits near the apex of the brief fossil fuel energy explosion and prepares to enter an untested regime of unprecedented scale: the loss of a resource that has been unquestionably vital to growth and development.

The passage above is excerpted from "Beyond Fossil Fuels: Assessing Energy Alternatives," an essay by T.W. Murphy, an Associate Professor of Physics at the University of California/San Diego. It is Chapter 15 of a book entitled, "Is Sustainability Still Possible?" published in 2013 by the Worldwatch Institute. I find this book to be an extraordinary collection of well-written and researched essays on a wide range of topics. It is not required that you purchase this book for this course, but it is near the top of my list of recommended reading. You may wish to check it out!


The title of this course is "Energy in a Changing World." "Changing" is an understatement! My grandfather was born in 1903. He loved to remark that in the course of his lifetime the Wright brothers took their first flight and a man walked on the moon. Incredible. In terms of energy, let's consider where we were just "yesterday" and think about how quickly "tomorrow" will come.

It is natural to think things have always been as they are and will continue to be so. But we don't have to look back very far to find a world that was very different from today's, especially when we focus on changes related to our use of energy. When we look forward and ponder future energy options, it is necessary to be open and realistic about the rate and scope of change that is possible, in fact, probable.

Take a minute to look at the Figure above. The steep slopes of the spike shows how rapidly our use of fossil-fuel has increased, and will then decrease. In energy terms, the world was very different just a generation ago and the one before that--our parents' world and our grandparents' world.

My mother talks about when her parents first had central heating installed. Before that, only two rooms in the house were heated. Growing up, my mother never had a heated bedroom. My grandfather chopped and hauled wood and used coal purchased locally. It was all heavy hard work. Suddenly, all he had to do was push a little lever on the thermostat and the whole house would get warm. My mother said that, for years, he would stand by the thermostat and marvel at what a miracle it was, so grateful for the ease and ability to keep his family warm. My grandmother grew up traveling in a horse-drawn buggy. Her mother was an excellent driver, they say! She used to laugh about buying jello from a door-to-door salesman, before they had a refrigerator! (Life without a refrigerator. Can we imagine that?) My mother's family was typical, maybe considered "well to do" in their small rural community. They were the first in the area to have a telephone. Neighbors would come from all around to use the phone that still hangs in the central hall. I remember when they got an air conditioner, in the 1960s. It was installed in a window in the den and they'd turn it on for an hour or so on hot afternoons. As hot and humid as it was in South Carolina, this one window unit was the only air conditioning in any of my family homes (counting our own home and my grandparents) for my entire childhood. Sounds like I'm 220 years old, right? I'm 56.

Activity

For this Discussion, we're going to collect and share stories about the changing use of energy in recent generations. As we look back on those stories, we're going to spin the stage and "ask" our grandchildren to look back on our times. What will they find noteworthy about the way we use energy?

  • Interview. Find someone in your world who is at least 75 years old and ask them to describe how the use of energy has changed in their lifetime. Ask them to think about their childhood and then to think about now. Consider heating and air conditioning, transportation, infrastructure, appliances, and other related topics. Do they remember stories from their parents on these topics? See what you can learn that is interesting and share it in your posting. Give us some points of reference, including where the person lived, rural or urban, etc. (You are not required to give any personal details.) If you do not have access to anyone to interview, you may share and discuss an interesting story, image, or fact found through your own research that demonstrates how the role of energy in our lives has changed over the last 100 years.
  • Personal Reflection. Imagine it is 50 years from now and these same questions are being asked of you by your grandchildren. "Describe how the use of energy changed over your lifetime." In 50 years, looking back, what would we say about our use of energy today? What will be interesting, surprising, noteworthy? (Be sure to keep the focus on looking back at today. Don't put too much effort into describing the future. We'll go there in the last Discussion of this course!)
  • Respond. Read the postings of others and respond to at least one.

Post your work in the Discussion, "Energy's Pace of Change." You'll find it in CANVAS, under Modules, Unit 1. Please follow full instructions there.

Include both the Interview and your personal reflection in your initial posting.

Please see course calendar in CANVAS for due date of your FIRST posting and date when discussion ends (graded participation ends, all replies must be in).

Grading criteria

You will be graded on the completeness and quality of your participation. Be interesting and interested! Please see Syllabus for full Discussion grading criteria.