Monday, January 19, 2009

The Solution to ...

The right energy plan addresses all of Global Warming, Peak Oil, Energy Independence (2/3 of U.S. oil is imported), and Economic Stimulus spending (investing in green jobs and future economic sustainability).

Here's my summary in four images (click to enlarge).

Nearly half of U.S. oil is used for gasoline, and over half of California's global warming emissions come from passenger vehicles and electricity generation.

The greatest leverage is Efficiency in transportation and buildings' energy use.

The most practical renewable energy in large quantities is electricity from solar, wind, and geothermal.

The most sustainable transportation is electric - EVs and plug-in hybrids, transit, passenger and freight rail.

There is a growing consensus around these main policies, as recently noted by Adam Stein in Gristmill and the Post Carbon Institute's The Real New Deal.

Sources:
World Oil Production - ASPO Newsletter and OilPoster.org
Crude Oil and Products' sources - U.S. EIA Petroleum Supply Monthly, Tables 4, 38
Oil Uses - U.S. EIA Petroleum Supply Monthly, Table 4
Greenhouse Gas Emissions - California Air Resources Board

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Darrell, I'd like to invite you to an innovative community sustainability workshop but cannot locate an email contact for you. If interested, please contact me at lredmond (at) redrocketLA (dot) com. Hope to hear from you. Thanks!

Melissa Mavour said...

Hi Darrell,
I'm writing to ask if you could post on your calendar, if keep one for this blog, or write briefly about, a megaregion forum we're doing in LA next month. It is to develop policy recommendations for energy, transportation and water infrastructure investments in the southwest. Please let me know how to get the information to you for your review.

Thanks for your time.

Melissa Mavour
Regional Plan Association
NY, NY