Take a look at my post 'a, b, c's' to see why it is so important we take a look at our energy consumption (specifically oil in the post). And, it's really exciting to see our government so dedicated to pursuing this important issue.
As you might imagine, studying energy and natural resources abroad brings a good perspective. Yes, the US is the butt of many jokes (in the kindest of ways). And, rightfully so. We make up 5% of the world population and yet consume 20% of the energy (source).
There's so much more to say but the night grows late and I must get some rest for another full day of studying. So, I leave you with the graphic below and check out the full thing here
The increasing gas prices has the administration outlining solutions. Of course, solutions take some time. First, they talk about increasing domestic oil production. That can help in the short run if we have the appropriate infrastructure (and commitment from oil companies- oil extraction is a whole other study, and, as you can imagine has to do with prices, interest rates and making the most money. Let's just say it's not a simple as saying 'let's extract more!'). Also, this is not a long term solution being a finite resource.
The administration's next solution is better gas milage for cars- always a good thing. We've got smart engineers, they can make it happen (also, reference my last few posts about the Skoda). And, they propose improving transportation and investing in cleaning public transport- cool but this will take some time as the technology is coming along but still needs some refining (ha, refining... like oil.. I'm so funny).
Last, but not least, is the 'clean energy future' seen below. 80% of electricity produced from clean sources by 2035?! I like it! As they note at the bottom in the fine writing- it sets out an ambitious target. Truth. But, by no means impossible.
We are looking at this exact concept in one of my classes right now. Technically energy is in continuum. Total energy is constant. It simply transforms between different forms. I won't get into the numbers details but if you think about the energy coming at us from the sun and the wind whipping around us- there is plenty of energy to fuel our every day activities. The real issue is capturing, converting to usable energy and storage.
And with this, I bid you a good night,
lisa liv
P.S. Obama administration, if you would like to hire me for the summer- that would be super.
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