Introduction
The Energy Story
The Energy Problem
The Energy Solution
Web Links
Teacher
Guide
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Finite
Resources
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The second
law of thermodynamics leads to the conclusion that energy
cannot be used over and over indefinitely, that the available
usable energy is a finite resource. While there are still
large supplies of coal, oil, and natural gas, the demand is
increasing as the amount of new supplies being found is decreasing.
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| Worldwide
energy use has been increasing and is projected to keep on increasing
as shown in the graph below, especially the demand for oil. |
Source:
EIA (Energy Information Administratioin), official energy
statistics from the US governmen
International
Eenrgy Outlook 2000
One
reason that the demand for energy has been increasing, is
that our per captita energy use or the amount of energy
that each person uses has been increasing. The diagram below
illustrates how modern man uses much more energy than the
humans from past epochs.
Courtesy
of Uranium Information Center Ltd.
Energy for the
World - Why Uranium?
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Another
reason for this increased demand is the exponential growth
of the world's human population as shown in the diagram below.
As more of the developing world becomes more industrialized,
the more energy they will need.
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Courtesy
of World Resources Institute, 10 G Street, NE (Suite 800),
Washington, DC 20002 |
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