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Page added on June 8, 2015
Are We Measuring Energy Use All Wrong?
We measure energy use with a commodity-based approach — monitoring electrons, therms and gallons. But is there a better way to gauge the efficiency of the economy?
Energy economist Skip Laitner has been exploring a new method based on measuring “exergy,” which shows that America’s economy is only 14 percent efficient. And he says it’s getting less efficient every year.
In this week’s show, we’ll talk with Laitner about why measuring usable energy is better for understanding economic productivity. And we’ll ask: how do we apply it to the real world?
Later in the program, we’ll discuss the state of the storage industry. And we’ll look at why America’s flagship clean coal project in Kemper County, Mississippi is so delayed and over budget.
This podcast is sponsored by ReneSola, a Tier 1 solar cell and module manufacturer with a decade of experience in the cleantech industry.
The Energy Gang is produced by Greentechmedia.com. The show features weekly discussions between energy futurist Jigar Shah, energy policy expert Katherine Hamilton and Greentech Media Editor Stephen Lacey.
2 Comments on "Are We Measuring Energy Use All Wrong?"
hiruitnguyse on Mon, 8th Jun 2015 9:06 pm
Skippy needs to pony up for the Hills Group report methinks….
Makati1 on Mon, 8th Jun 2015 10:32 pm
I would bet that the US is not even 14% efficient. It uses 20 times the energy of the Ps, per capita, and still has 47 million (15%+) on food stamps and over half of the population receiving money from the government in one form or another.
Not to mention it’s huge import of energy products from many other countries. (And yes, those ‘plastic pea shooters’ are really imported energy, water, and misc. minerals, not to mention labor.)