Power density--why oil tastes so good..

As Americans, we are addicted to things that are bad for us. French fries, hot dogs, chips, sodas & cookies. All these foods contain loads of sugar & fat--essentially rich sources of energy for our bodies. The trouble is, we really don't need these rich sources of energy or "nutrients" in excess. One cheeseburger probably takes care of all of our daily caloric needs.

Same is true for oil. It is densely packed with energy. Nothing (other than coal and other petroleum products) comes even close to oil in terms of power density (the amount of energy produced per square meter of Earth's surface). Solar and wind facilities provide 1-2 orders of magnitude less power per square meter than oil, and biomass plants (based on corn ethanol) are even less dense...providing 1% (or less) of the energy per area compared to oil--see figure below from article in Science 329:780 (2010).

Source of data in figure: upper left and bottom--DOE; upper right--V. Smil, Energy Transitions, Praeger (2010)

Yikes! That's sobering news & tough to compete with. To soften the blow somewhat, it is worth pointing out that the full cost of energy should also include the cost of extraction, transport, storage, AND environmental risks (including CO2 output)...which is where renewables have the potential to come out ahead.

Can we learn anything from our unhealthy food addiction that can be applied to our unhealthy oil addiction? A good start is educating people on the scope of the problem, benefits & disadvantages to different forms of energy. But the truth is, most people do not want to change their lifestyles. An oft cited poll by The New York Times/CBS News (released 20 June 2010) found that although 90% of respondents agreed that "U.S. energy policy either needs fundamental changes or to be completely rebuilt," only 49% supported new taxes on gasoline to fund new and renewable energy. Seems to me that we should stop subsidizing oil and instead subsidize renewables, AND impose Greenhouse Gas taxes (on energy companies!!) that penalize for catastrophic environmental risks (such as drilling for oil) and emitting CO2 at any phase of the production. That might help level the playing field.