Demand for energy

3 Animal calorimetry methods of measuring heat production and energy retention 

---

The demand for energy is continually increasing and the highest energy consumption in the world occurs in the United States. In 1989 consumption totaled 8.6 x 10 MJ (81.3 x 10 Btu) or 11.7 metric tons of coal-equivalent per capita (85). World recoverable reserves were about 120 times the annual coal production in 1988 and about 10 times that for the additional reserves beheved to be in place (1). Estimated coal consumption reduces the known recoverable reserves at about 1%/yr. Whereas the use of bituminous coal is expected to continue to increase in terms of tonnage, the percentage of coal used in the United States has stabilized as shown in Table 11. 

Energy is the ability to do work. The work can be done by man nr machine the fuel to do the work can come from food or fuel. Flumans often have a choice of whether or not to continue to develop technology that replaces the work of man as well as do other types of work that man is not capable of doing. Flistorically, the choice has been almost always to embrace technology, driving the steady increase in demand for energy. 

Wliile some problems still exist, there is no question that coal mining operations are more efficient and safer for workers and leave less of an environmental footprint than operations several generations ago. As society s demand for energy from coal continues to increase and as coal s price declines (between 1978 and 1996 U.S. mine mouth prices fell from 47,118 to 18..S11 per ton in constant 1996 dollars), there is certain to be even gi eater efforts to limit the environmental impact of mining operations. 

For businesses the demand for energy is the demand for a factor of production. Its demand depends on the price ol the energy demanded (P) as well as the price of its output (P ), technology (T) and prices of other factors of production—land, labor, and capital—that might be substitutes (P,) nr complements (PJ in consumption. Environmental policy (E, ) might also affect the demand for fuel. If this is aggregate business demand for energy the number of businesses is also relevant. 

The Tax Code contains various provisions that may affect the demand for energy from specific sources. In the transportation area, purchasers of electric vehicles may claim a credit against their income tax liability for a portion of the purchase price. Taxpayers who pur-... 

Taxpayers who receive incentive payments for installing energy-efficient equipment, such as a high-efficiency furnace, do not have to include the payment in their taxable income. This tax-favored treatment may make consumers more likely to purchase energy-saving equipment, thereby reducing demand for energy. 

Tax policy (including excise taxes and income tax provisions) operates in several different ways to affect energy supply and demand, for energy in general and for specific fuels. There is no consensus about the net overall effect on supply and demand, in part because th ese provisions operate in different sectors, in different markets, and sometimes in different directions. 

The major initial driving force in the expansion of catalytic processing was the worldwide demand for energy and the availability of relatively eap petroleum. This led to the development of major new processes in petroleum refining and in the petrochemical industry, as well as to inventions which revolutionized existing technology (Table 1). 

A The demand for energy raw materials is several times greater (also in terms of amount) than that for the rest of the elements. Only uranium is additionally used for energy production. The ratio of the three energy raw materials (brown coal was not calculated) to the 35 000 tons of uranium supplied gives 300 000 1. 

In the light of the projected growth of demand for energy services, particularly electricity, there is a renewed interest in the extension of nuclear power in some countries. With uranium being a finite resource as well, Chapter 4 focuses primarily on the question of a future expansion of nuclear power in the context of the availability of nuclear fuels. Moreover, the evolution of the next generation of nuclear reactors, such as breeder reactors or reactors suitable for hydrogen production, is addressed. 

---