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Peter Pham

Professor A

ENGR 1

June 13, 2017

Word Count: 999

The Energy Revolution: 1% Perspiration, 99% Imagination and Innovation

If there is one thing that is pervasive of an industrialized worlds lifestyle, it would be the

massive consumption of energy. From the obvious like cars and lights to the subtle like

construction and frying, higher-income countries consume a lot of energy. Yet, the same

privileges are not extended to lower-income countries where electricity seems foreign. Bill Gates

also recognizes this gap and even calls energy and time superpowers, because it is a power that

only some wield.

Undeniably, the massive harnessing of energy in my society and life is a superpower.

From internet entertainment and phone services to speedy transportation to even the

governments supply of nuclear weapons ready for defense and attack, energy permeates every

single aspect of my life to the extent where my entire lifestyle revolves around it. While energy

is necessary for all the goods in my life, I will only discuss continual energy sources for sake of

simplicity: electricity and gasoline. If either or both of these goods disappear from my life, I

would be a fish out of water. I could not do my homework due online, travel between school and

work quickly, maintain a comfortable living environment, etc; my schedule would quickly

collapse on itself due to my workload and obligations. This massive energy consumption allows

me to conveniently do all the work that I need to do, want to do, and am asked to do. In light of

Bill Gatess letter, electricity/gasoline has become so integrated into my life that its absence
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would leave a void in me; I would not know what to do besides simple activities: eat, sleep, read,

walk.

Yet, I am aware that my massive energy consumption is accelerating the rate of climate

change that is beginning to throw the Earths life-sustaining equilibrium off balance; too much

CO is in the atmosphere that photosynthetic organisms cannot keep up, which is leading to an

imbalanced energy distribution. There is not enough energy in the ground (fossil fuels), and the

extra heat is leading to increasing temperatures that are the floodgates to natural disasters that

some parts of the world are simply not ready to confront: massive hurricanes, tropical diseases,

decreasing biodiversity. Tracing these problems back, the problem seems to lie in the

overwhelming amount of CO and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Bill Gates points

this out too as he tries to quantify energy consumption and CO emissions with a clever Energy

Equation. In order to calculate the total energy consumed globally in a given unit of time, Gates

suggests to multiply the total population with the average amount of energy a person consumes,

which is the services they use multiplied by the energy needed to provide those services, and

how much CO is produced consequently. In order to achieve zero CO emissions, Gates uses

basic algebra to show that we only need to drive CO emissions to zero without necessarily

needing to compromise people, their work and lifestyle, and the services they consume and

value. Gates quickly points out that most energy currently comes from fossil fuels, which yields

CO as a byproduct. In order to curve down and quickly wipe out all CO emissions, Gates

proposes an energy revolution where through research and innovation humanity can pivot

towards CO emissions-less energy sources.

However, infrastructure is necessary in order to facilitate any moving and consumption of

energy. Hence, the energy revolution would start with the massive industrialization of currently
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industrializing and non-industrialized countries where power plants, buildings, and

municipalities are developed in order to usher in better living standards and a market for

electricity. In order to remain consistent with the zero CO emissions goal, gasoline would not be

used at all, and transportation would run on pure electricity and without any use of biofuels;

electricity is a flexible energy source that can be developed from a variety of substances that

make transitions towards more eco-friendly materials significantly smoother. The key to this

rapid industrialization is foreign aid and organizational support that allow countries to perform

this feat without succumbing to forms of dictatorships and oppression and avoiding the use of

fossil fuels, which are extremely convenient. Models of this in history include the Marshall Plan

in war-torn Europe and, to a lesser extent, the SCAP program in Japan during the USs

occupation of the archipelago nation after World War II. In both cases, foreign aid significantly

expedited each country's recovery and development while promoting more global cooperation

and peace.

From there, significant investments by the private sector and governments into research

and public programs will lead towards a more cautious consumption of electricity and

biomaterial. Cooking oils will be saved to power construction vehicles, cities will be covered in

solar panels, and kinetic activitiesbiking in the gym, cars driving on roads, sewage flowing

can add power to huge government-managed batteries centers in the city that can also act as a

router for city-wide internet and as a record-keeper of city power-consumption. More human-

powered devices, like iPhone cases that generate electricity from human heat and bikes with

batteries to store power from pedaling, will also enter the market. Besides maximizing resources

and innovation, efficiency and frugality will be the motto of producers and consumers;

businesses will open recycling plants to reuse the used products material to create new ones.
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Paper and other biowastes (like banana peels) will be transformed into a synthetic wood or

bioplastic, reusable tools and utilities will become the norm, and smaller batteries will hold more

power. Food production will no longer be separate from urban life and require transporting, but

will occur on rooftops, private and public gardens, and in underground chambers and

greenhouses that also maximize geothermal energy.

The energy revolution I envision is not some distant futuristic world from The Jetsons,

but is one that integrates perfectly into our societies and cultures. From small personal choices to

macroscopic projects, this energy revolution loses the grand connotations that the word

revolution carries, which reflects how imagination is humanitys greatest superpower.

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Work Cited

Gates, Bill, and Melinda Gates. Two Superpowers We Wish We Had. Gatesnotes.com, Bill

and

Melinda Gates, 22 Feb. 2016, www.gatesnotes.com/2016-Annual-Letter#ALChapter1.