The world’s population is estimated at nearly 6.8 billion people.  The U.S. population is approaching 308 million. World production of electricity totals 20,000 TWh per year (a $2 trillion market) with nearly half consumed in North America and Europe.   As the world population adopts more of the U.S. appetite for energy, these monumental numbers will grow.  If just China and India raised their per capita electricity usage to that of the U.S., the total world’s electricity consumption would almost triple, without adding a single human being to its growing population.

Where will all this electricity come from?

For millennia, man’s need for energy has largely been met through a single acronym: LBS (Let’s Burn Something).  LBS technology has improved through the centuries. During this period, LBS technology focused on making the fire bigger and hotter, measured in BTUs (British Thermal Units).  As more BTUs were needed to meet the demand for energy, more fuel sources were brought on line, from wood to whale oil, coal to petroleum, and eventually, uranium.  More heat was the name of the game, giving no concern to the environment and the eventual depletion of fuel sources.  It is only in recent decades that the effects of generating all this heat have become apparent and a growing concern.  Environmental effects of LBS technology are many and well documented. Despite a growing emphasis to find renewable energy solutions, the renewable share of electricity production remains less than 20% (90% of this production is dam based hydropower, it too having a large environmental impact). Wind and solar power receive most of the media attention, but worldwide, wind and solar energy production (versus nameplate capacity) is still less than 250 TWh.  Intermittent and inconsistent levels of production, lack of effective storage, and high costs have all contributed to the slow worldwide conversion to renewable energy. Many countries have adopted policies of matching new renewable energy production with new natural gas capacity to offset the supply and peak demand risks inherent in existing renewable energy solutions.