The Evolution of Energy in the United States

Introduction

The average American consumes the energy equivalent of seven metric tons of oil every year (1). The amount of energy consumed by Americans has increased over the years, and technology available to Americans  has changed accordingly, raising the standard of living of those in the United States.

However, the problems associated with limited fossil fuel resources and the consequences of using them have also continued to grow. Energy will remain a focus of our national consciousness, with a growing emphasis on sustainability and energy independence.

The Past

In the 1700s, most of the energy in the colonial United States was derived from renewable sources. Domesticated animals, such as horses and oxen, were used for transport,  and waterwheels, along with wood combustion, were used for cooking and heating (2).

Gradually, technological advances spurred the young nation towards the use of coal, and later, oil. At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, steam-powered machines used in industry and transport replaced wood as the dominant form of energy in the United States (2). A step up from steam-powered machines, electrical energy could be generated from coal and transported beyond the site of generation (2). Demand for coal consequently spiked.

By the early to mid-1900s, however, other efficient sources of energy began to supplant coal. In many ways, oil and natural gas were easier to handle and to transport. In addition, compared to coal, oil and natural gas were cleaner sources of fuel (2). By the mid-1900s, the demand for oil and gas surpassed that of coal, ending its century-long dominance (2).

This demand continued to grow until the mid-1970s, when economic downturns and price manipulation contributed to shortages of oil and natural gas and caused spikes in fuel prices that have persisted even to this day. However, growth eventually resumed and continued until the financial crisis of 2008 (2).

In the midst of the United States’ growing appetite for oil, nuclear power was first commercially produced in the 1950s. It found rapid increases in production by the 1970s as oil and natural gas began to look less like reliable resources (2).

The popularity of nuclear energy has grown, steadily, but disasters such as the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 and Chernobyl in 1986 have limited nuclear energy’s progress through social pressures and safety concerns (2). In addition, nuclear waste is remarkably difficult to dispose of safely, as radiation persists through the decay of the radioactive isotope. Often, governments must store the waste in deep geological repositories to keep it isolated until it has decayed to a safe amount and is no longer radioactive (3).

As the concern relating to climate change, pollution, and the limited availability of fossil fuels has increased in the past several decades, there has been an increasing shift towards renewable energy. Since 1995, wind power has represented the most rapidly growing resource with an over 2000 percent increase (2). However, it still represents less than 0.75 percent of the nation’s energy supply (2).

Since 1995, solar power has grown 55 percent due to the rapid fall of solar panel prices and advances in solar panel technology (2). Geothermal energy has grown nearly 27 percent in a similar time frame. The largest portion of renewable energy, however, still comes from biomass and hydroelectric sources (2).

The Present

To a large degree, the United States still depends heavily on fossil fuels, much of it imported from overseas. The United States imports approximately 20 percent of its total energy needs (4). In March 2011, it imported $420 billion dollars worth of oil; the United States has been the world’s biggest importer of oil for decades (5,6).

A variety of factors indicate that available fossil fuels are insufficient for the world’s needs. Governmental action against rampant drilling and probing for new sources of oil and natural gas, foreign wars and national instability, and terrorist activities have underscored the growing demand for energy (5). In addition, emerging economies such as China and India are developing an appetite that cannot be satiated by the current production levels of crude oil.

To mitigate the effects of these challenges on the United States’ energy supply, the country is actively pushing for advances in  renewable energy technology (7).  As defined by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, renewable energy is “electric energy generated from solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, ocean […] geothermal, municipal solid waste, or new hydroelectric generation capacity achieved from increased efficiency of additions of new capacity at an existing hydroelectric project” (7).

The solar capacity of the United States in 2012 was 2,000 megawatts, thanks in part to dramatic decrease in prices in solar energy technology; for instance, solar modules are 75 percent cheaper than they were four years ago (8). Solar power stems from four primary technologies, two of which involve creating electricity and two of which involve thermal energy (7).

In soloar panels, photovoltaic (PV) cells involve the conversion of sunlight into electricity via photovoltaic modules–arrays composed of individual cells installed on or near a building. A power inverter converts the direct current (DC) electricity made by the PV cells to alternating current (AC), the form in which electric power is delivered to businesses and residences (7).

PV systems are found across the world and can convert 10 percent of surface-striking solar energy to usable electricity (7). In recent years, the  development of thin-film PV cells has reduced the price of solar panels; unfortunately, the new technology has proven more difficult to mass-produce (9).

Solar power can also generate electricity withouth utilizing PV cells. Instead, solar panels can generate electricity by reflecting the sun’s energy onto a receiver, creating high temperatures used to power a conventional electricity-producing turbine (9). This method creates large amounts of electricity but requires large areas of land to deploy (9).

The two other forms of solar power involve the creation of thermal energy. In the first, a collector absorbs and transfers heat from the sun to water, which can be stored in a tank and used in domestic settings. A more complex form of this system involves active solar heating systems that use circulating pumps and controls. These allow for greater efficiency but are more expensive (9).

Finally, in solar ventilation preheat, solar power can be used to heat air before it enters a building. This decreases the energy burden of central heating systems. A transpired collector—a dark, perforated metal wall—is installed on a south-facing side of the building, creating about a six inch gap between the collector and the building’s structural wall. Outside air is drawn through the perforations, the air is heated by the wall’s warmth, and the air is drawn into the building’s air duct system (9).

Beyond solar energy, another renewable source of energy is wind energy, which is harvested via turbines that spin an internal shaft connected to a generator. The generator creates electricity, the amount of which depends on the size and scale of the turbine (9). Last year, the combined investment in wind and solar power totaled $280 billion dollars (8).

An interesting side effect of wind turbines has been termed the “Wind Turbine Syndrome,”  which involve reports of insomnia, headaches, and stress for residents living near wind turbines (10). These symptoms likely represent a “nocebo” effect: after wind turbines were reported to have negative physiological effects, more and more people began to report said symptoms. However, detailed public studies have demonstrated no correlation between wind turbines and the symptoms of this “syndrome” (10).

Geothermal energy is produced from heat and hot water found within the earth. Resources of heat come from near the surface or even miles deep underground; geothermal systems move heat from these locations to locations where they are used (9).

There are three primary types of geothermal systems. Geothermal heat pumps use the ground, groundwater, or surface water as both the heat source and the heat sink. The hot water from the geothermal resource are used directly for space conditioning or to process heat. Geothermal power can also be used for power plant electricity generation, as steam and binary geothermal power plants leverage heat from geothermal resources to drive turbines, thereby producing electricity (9).

Biomass involves fuel, heat, or electricity being produced from organic materials such as plants, residues, and waste. These organic materials come from sources such as agriculture, forestry, primary and secondary mill residues, urban waste, landfill gases, wastewater treatment plants, and crops specifically set aside for energy production (9).

Because biomass comes in various forms, it has many different applications. It may be burnt directly for electricity, combined with fossil fuels, or even converted into liquid fuels (9).

Landfill gas represent a viable energy resource created during waste decomposition. As organic waste decomposes, biogas composed of roughly half methane, half carbon dioxide, and small amounts of non-methane organic compounds is produced (9).

This methane can be collected and used as an energy source, instead of being treated merely as a byproduct of waste decomposition that is released into the environment. Collected methane may be burned to generate thermal energy or to create steam that would drive turbine generation of electricity (9).

Hydropower and ocean energy are also potential sources of renewable energy. Hydropower has been used for centuries to power machinery in the form of the simple waterwheel; today, the most widely known application involves the production of energy through dams (9).

Ocean energy includes two varieties of energy generation. Mechanical energy may be derived from the earth’s rotation, which creates winds on the ocean surface that form waves. The gravitational pull of the moon creates coastal tides and currents as well. This energy could be captured and converted into electricity (9).

In addition, thermal energy from the sun heats the surface of the ocean while the depths retain a lower temperature. This temperature differential allows energy to be captured and converted to electricity (9).

In the realm of fossil fuels, new technology has opened up an enormous new resource: natural gas deposits sequestered within shale formations throughout the United States. This new procedure,  called hydraulic fracturing, is combined with the existing technique of horizontal drilling to make organic-rich shales the largest and richest natural gas fields in the world (11).

Hydraulic fracturing frees up natural gas isolated in discrete pore spaces within the shale. By pumping liquids into a well at a high enough pressure, it fractures the rock. Through this method, an intricate network of interconnected fractures connect the pore spaces and facilitate the movement of oil and natural gas (11).

The Future

From the vantage point of today’s energy resources, it is very difficult to predict what lies in the future. For instance, it was predicted in the 1950s that nuclear power would quickly become an energy source that was too cheap to sell in economically traditional ways to the masses (6). In addition, in the 1970s, it was predicted that the world would run on solar power by the end of the 20th century (6).

However, certain trends in energy will persist in the near future. Renewable energy, for instance, will gradually claim a larger share in world energy consumption. After all, costs for renewable energy are falling, methods of integrating renewable energy into existing structures are improving, and new technologies are emerging (2, 12).

For example, compact fluorescent light bulbs use up to 75 percent less power than traditional incandescent bulbs (13). New refrigerators is three times as efficient as models from 1973 (13). If the rest of the world updated its appliances, more than 20 percent of world energy demand could be cut by 2020 (13).

The specter of climate change also has spurred governmental support of renewable energy projects. The benefits of renewable energy are widely recognized; greater use of renewable energy sources helps the U.S. move toward energy independence (since renewable energy projects are usually located close to where the energy is consumed), environmental impact is lessened, and costs are cut (2).

Traditional fossil fuels will not lose relevance in the near future, however. Hydraulic fracturing stands to become 70 percent of natural gas development in the future, spurred by private interest and its clean-burning nature (11, 14). In the last ten years, 50 percent of global energy consumption has been through coal, largely due to developing countries that prefer its cheapness and abundance (6).

North America also continues to expand its oil resources. The United States is on track to overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer by 2020; energy independence is plausible by 2030 (4). By 2035, the International Energy Association expects American oil imports to have sharply declined while European oil imports will continue to rise (6, 15).

Conclusion

Many factors work against regaining old levels of comfort and confidence in energy abundance. The world is much more aware of the limits of its energy resources, particularly those of fossil fuels. The world’s population continues to both grow and improve its standards of living and energy consumption. Despite strides made by developing nations such as China and India, two billion people still lack any access to energy (6).

However, many avenues remain to be explored. Renewable energy technology and economics are advancing; for example, solar microcells the size of glitter particles are in development (12). There are new sources of traditional fuels, such as hydraulic fracturing, set to become an increasingly important natural gas source in the coming years. Energy efficiency in existing technologies also is an option with enormous potential.

2012 was designated as the United Nations International Year of Sustainable Energy for All (6). Because of its very nature, energy is recognized as a tense issue: it is scarce, difficult to generate, and indispensable. Finding compromises between our energy demands and the planet’s capabilities will be key to long-term solutions. With the right education, technology, and policies, the world has begun a campaign to move toward an increasingly optimistic energy future.

 

Contact Annie (Yi) Sun at

yi.sun.16@dartmouth.edu

References

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