Nate Lewis Lecture Reflection

I find it intriguing that currently the world is consuming around 13 TW of energy. Honestly, I still find it hard to imagine how much fuel we must burn and consume to produce that much energy. Of the world’s 13 TW, the United State’s consumes 3 TW of energy. According to Nate Lewis, if the humans want to put a dent in the carbon emissions into the atmosphere by 2050 we will need 10-13% carbon free emissions energy sources. Right now, fossil fuels are cheaper than alternative energies and until renewable resources become cheaper or there is some type of “game changer”, Nate Lewis suspects that there will not be a change for the major energy dependence (E.g. fossil fuels). Although this seems negative, I would have to agree with what Nate Lewis has to say on this subject. I feel that now-a-days, there are a lot of businesses that put profit before the big picture and want the cheapest route to get the most profit. Therefore, fossil fuels are there most convenient choice. Though this should actually be taken on a different perspective, if businesses and citizens were to invest in sustainable resources, things will eventually change. Though this change would have to take place worldwide, it seems like it might not happen right away. But steps are being taken in many countries around the world which is good, though the problem Nate Lewis highlighted was that we will need to produce a lot more energy as the Earth’s population continues to increase exponentially. After listening to this presentation, I also realized that each energy source is probably not a solution for the entire world except for solar energy. Problem is there isn’t a technology that we currently have that is cost effective so that everyone can get it. Once that happens, it will be possible for solar energy to be used across the world.

Now another important topic was how energy relates to economic, national and environmental security of the world and its nations. Right now, it seems to me that a lot of governments care more about economic and national security before they worry about the environmental safety. It seems like they look for the quickest, cheapest form of energy to get products made and sold. Giving the environmental security little thought until a problem becomes persistent, for example when issues arise with the nation’s people from the factories. I think that when trying to decide something is sustainable for a nation, many things need to be factored in and knowing which would be a better fit for the environments in that country. Overall, this lecture was very thought provoking and it has made me realize that there is a lot more factors to consider when choosing an energy source than I had originally thought.