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Sustainable energy: of course; but how?

Article Excerpt
The meteoric and continuing rise in carbon-based energy utilization worldwide and the resulting global climate change implications constitute the defining problem facing humankind today. These demand scenarios and the emissions from carbon-based energy utilization have been documented in depth, with implications ranging from changes in lifestyle to cataclysms. Instead of further restatements of the problem, strategies are needed to address the opportunities for innovation presented by this scenario in energy conversion and utilization. The challenge in energy is not just one of more and more generation from fast-depleting nonrenewable sources or burgeoning renewable sources. A more immediate and practical opportunity is the end-use aspect. Energy utilized in the thermal form directly accounts for at least 87% (coal 24%, oil 36%, natural gas 21%, nuclear 6%) of the world's current (2003) and projected (2030) primary energy supply (WEC 2006). Many renewables also traverse the thermal pathway, increasing the thermal fraction further. While this preponderance of thermal energy comes from relatively few sources, there are infinite routes for energy utilization and conversion, offering ample opportunities for innovation, especially in the HVAC&R field. What emerges from these considerations is the need for a focus on sustainable thermal energy transformations. The case of electricity generation offers some key insights. The net end-use electricity for residential, industrial, commercial, and transportation sectors in the United States in 2005 was 13 quads, whereas the corresponding conversion losses (primarily thermal-to-mechanical, and governed to some extent by thermodynamics) were 27 quads...

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