Energy - Part 1

In my previous post about environmentalism I focused on the second half of the Genesis 1:27-31 command about the earth and animals. The first half offers the counter balance to it. "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" - Genesis 1:27a. A major part of being able to fill the earth is being able to produce the resources necessary sustain an earth filling population (what that is is a topic for another day).

If we fail to produce enough resources for a planet full of people to live at a reasonable standard of living we have not fulfilled the command. So we have to balance the need to produce large quantities of resources for all these people as well as maintaining an environment that affords an opportunity for these same people to live healthy and pleasant lives.

Going to my post yesterday I wanted to break out some of the points and explore them a little more deeply. To give myself the opportunity to learn more about each of these topics.

A major element in sustaining a global population is energy. Energy allows us to make light, to be comfortable (warm/cool), to move things (shipping), to build things, to make things. A society's ability to produce, distribute, and use energy is one of the biggest factors in a society's ability to prosper and enjoy a higher standard of living.

The graph below shows the breakdown of energy sources used here in the US as of 2014.




The next graph here shows where that energy is used in our economy.




Each of these energy sources has a cost both in dollars and cents and in environmental impact it it's production, distribution, and end use. Here is a link comparing the cost of a number of energy production methods.


I'll try to explore the environmental impact of each of them next.