What forms of energy do we consume?
by William Papolis, Tuesday Feb 20, 2007 9:24PM EST
Coal, a "hard dig" ...
Now consuming energy isn’t bad. The type of energy consumed is what really makes a difference from the perspective of environment and sustainability. Let's zoom in on specific resources and find out who the leaders are.
When considering coal, I have included coal in all it's forms:
Peat - lowest grade coal
Lignite or brown coal - (low grade, low energy, high carbon dioxide emissions) used almost exclusively as fuel for steam-electric power generation.
Sub-bituminous coal - (low grade, low to medium energy, high to medium C02 emissions) used primarily as fuel for steam-electric power generation.
Bituminous coal - (medium grade, medium energy, medium emissions) used for a variety of purposes (electricity generation, steam furnaces etc.); includes coking coal derived from bituminous coal by heating to eliminate moisture and other volatile hydrocarbons
Anthracite - (high energy, lowest CO2) the best coal; used primarily for residential and commercial space heating
Looking at the top 5 energy consumers of coal …
| Top 5 energy consumers of coal (ktoe) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Coal | Oil | Gas | Nuclear | Hydro | Solar, Wind & Geo | Comb, Renew & Waste | Pop (2006) | Coal Energy (2004) | ||
| China | 61.7% | 19.3% | 2.6% | 0.8% | 1.9% | 0% | 13.7% | 1,313,973 | 992,648 | ||
| USA | 23.4% | 40.7% | 22.1% | 9.1% | 1.0% | 0%.5 | 3.0% | 298,444 | 545,357 | ||
| India | 34.1% | 22.2% | 4.1% | 0.8% | 1.3% | 0.1% | 37.4% | 1,095,351 | 195,535 | ||
| Japan | 21.8% | 47.8% | 13.2% | 13.8% | 1.5% | 0.7% | 1.2% | 127,463 | 116,092 | ||
| Russia | 16.2% | 20.4% | 54.0% | 5.9% | 2.4% | 0.1% | 1.1% | 142,893 | 104,190 | ||
Source: International Energy Agency
A quick summary of this table:
- The biggest consumer of coal, by a large margin, is China
- US consumption is in second place (50% of China’s)
- Third place India represents only 20% of China’s annual consumption
Wow, I am surprised! Before doing this analysis I had no idea that China's economy is largely based on coal. From living in Canada I heard complaints in the media, (in the 1970's & 1980's), about "acid rain" from power plants in the United States. China has based over 60% of it's energy economy on the planet's dirtiest energy source!
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Imagine what is happening over there in China. In fact, you don't have to imagine. Look to the right and view mountains of coal as far as the eye can see, waiting to be burned! Can you imagine the pollution being created in China? It's must be like a massive chimney spewing contaminants into the atmosphere. All that pollution has to go somewhere! I wonder how it is for the inhabitants living in the region? I wouldn't be surprised if all that pollution ends up blowing across the Pacific ocean and lands on North America. "Mr. Consumer in North America, would you like some "acid rain" with your "Made in China" socks?" If you live in China or live in the region (India, Japan), please join our forum and tell us what's going on. I would be very interested to find out what's happening "on the ground". Further, join our forums and post pictures so we can view the effects. |
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