Inspired by the work of Nick Eyre, we can take a bird’s eye view that reveals a simple dichotomy: both the energy services we demand and the fuels we put into the energy system can be split into two groups: heat and work.1 Let's first look at energy services. [...] Exhibit 1: Global energy flow from supply to demand split by heat and work Energy supply, Energy demand, EJ primary supply, 2019 ~50% lost EJ useful energy, 2019 Heat services Heat to heat (e.g., space heating, cooking, industrial process heating) ~66% lost Heat energy ~20% lost sources (e.g., coal, oil, and biomass) Heat to work Work energy Work to heat Work servicesWork to work sources ~30% lost. [...] Exhibit 2: A hundred years of heat energy supply and demand Share of heat energy source in supply and heat service in demand, % 100% 90% Energy supply from heat energy sources 80% Growing mismatch between 70% supply and demand 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% Energy demand for heat services 10% 0% 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2019 Source: IIASA, Rystad, Energy Institute - Statist. [...] The driver of this change was a major update to the energy system, transitioning from biomass and coal in primitive energy technologies, such as fireplaces and locomotives, to gas and oil in more advanced technologies, such as gas boilers and internal combustion engines. [...] Energy lost between primary energy and useful energy stage Source: Rystad 1.6C Conclusion For over a century, we’ve been using the hammers of heat supply to bash in the screws of work demand.
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- Published in
- United States of America
Table of Contents
- THE SHIFT FROM PRIMITIVE HEAT TO MODERN WORK 1
- Summary 1
- New energy for a new era. 1
- A simple way to look at the complex energy system. 1
- The heat and work mismatch. 1
- A century of growing supply-demand divergence. 1
- We found a solution renewables get straight to work. 1
- A leap in energy productivity is coming. 1
- Heat and work 1
- A century of growing supply-demand mismatch 3
- Our last major update was in the 1970s 4
- Energy waste by transformation type 4
- 250 4
- 200 4
- 300 4
- 150 4
- 350 4
- 100 4
- 400 4
- 1910 1920 1900 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2019 1930 4
- Renewables get straight to work 5
- Work beats heat even for heat services 5
- 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 5
- Share of primary energy turned into useful energy for services 5
- Another quantum leap in energy productivity is coming 6
- Share of primary energy turned into useful energy for services 6
- 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070 2080 2090 2100 6
- Conclusion 7
- Endnotes 7
- 100 7
- 120 7
- 140 7
- 160 7
- 180 7
- 200 7
- 220 7
- 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070 7
- Energy waste 7
- GDP 7
- Energy waste versus GDP 7
- 2023 100 7
