Future Energy Options
Energy sources include oil, coal, natural gas, nuclear, hydroelectric, and the burning of wood, as well as geothermal, wind, photovoltaic, and solar thermal. Each energy source is measured by a different unit — cubic feet of gas, barrels of oil, tons of coal, etc.—which poses a problem for meaningful discussion. Can you imagine how much oil is in 30 billion barrels? How about in one trillion U.S. gallons?
Dr. Ripudaman Malhotra, Associate Director of the Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory at SRI International, will put energy use into perspective at a briefing hosted by the Federation of American Scientists on Tuesday, August 14, 2012.
The cubic mile of oil (CMO) is a convenient unit of energy used to express global and national productions and consumption. The CMO provides a visual scale for comparing diverse energy sources as a percentage of total worldwide energy use. How much energy is in a cubic mile of oil? The current global consumption of oil is about one cubic mile. Using this metric makes it easier to understand present day and future energy challenges in the United States and the world.
Slides from the presentation can be found here.
Speakers:
Dr. Charles Ferguson, Federation of American Scientists
Dr. Ripudaman Malhotra, Associate Director of the Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory, SRI International
When: Tuesday, August 14, 2012
2:00 p.m. – Briefing
2:30 p.m. -- Questions and Discussion
Where: Senate Dirksen Building
Room 562
Constitution Avenue and 1st Street, NE
Washington, DC
RSVP: Please reply by emailing rsvp@fas.org or contact Katie Colten at 202-454-4694 by Friday, August 10.
