Advanced Energy Efficiency, Lecture 2: Industry - Rocky Mountain ...

American industry
◊ The mightiest transformative force in history
◊ Extracts raw materials, processes them into
primary and secondary forms, makes those
into artifacts that may be used for varying
lengths of time (or none), and recycles a bit
◊ Uses essentially all physical materials, >18%
of freshwater withdrawals* (>60% including
agriculture, a primary industry), ~31% of
electricity, 35% of directly used natural gas,
96% of directly used coal, 24% of oil (nearly
half for feedstocks), and 32% of total energy
*USGS doesn’t report how much of the public water supply goes to industry, so it’s not
included here, but I’ve prorated power stations’ water withdrawals, 48% of the U.S. total,
on industry’s 31% share of electricity consumption.
◊ Emits 29% of U.S. fossil-fuel CO 2