Re: The troubles -Reply

[David Dockstader <DRDOCK00@UKCC.UKY.EDU>]

In the US roughly 10% of our total energy used goes to public and commercial
transportation systems.  The majority of that must be used in cities and
between cities on either coast.  Probably not more than 2% goes to moving
material and goods any significant distance.  Even if our energy use were
reduced by 5% we'd still be more or less average in efficiency among
industrialized countries.  With 5% of the world's population we account
for 22% of the energy consumed world wide.  The causes problems with the
balance of payments, and the high energy costs of our products makes it
difficult for us to compete in many foreign markets.


On Thu, 9 Oct 1997 08:03:23 -0500 Richard W. Tarara said:
> While this thead has moved pretty far away from Physics, I would point out
> that the comparison that David suggests (GNP per unit energy used--aka
> efficiency) is really not a fair comparison unless the physical size of the
> country is taken into account.  A good part of the energy cost of running a
> modern country is involved in moving people, raw materials, and goods
> about.  Physically large countries with low population densities like the
> U.S., Russia, and Australia are at a disadvantage when compared to high
> density small countries like Japan and Switzerland.*  One must also look at
> countries (like Japan and Switzerland) that import either their raw
> materials or even much of their manufactured goods.  The energy accounting
> for such ends up on the supplying country's ledger sheet.  In short,
> simplistic efficiency measures (and economic measures) don't really tell
> the full story and can be used incorrectly to criticize and demean.
>
> Rick
>
> * For another simplistic measure, weight the ENERGY/GNP/PERSON figures by
> area or population density to see that with such a measure the U.S. is one
> of the MOST efficient nations.
>
> ----------
> > From: David Dockstader <DRDOCK00@UKCC.UKY.EDU>
> >
> > Rondo Jeffery makes some interesting comparisons of GNP & GNP per capita.
> > Another interesting comparison is GNP per unit of energy used.  It turns
>                                                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > out we are pretty much an average country in terms of our efficiency.
> > Another interesting question to ask is how much real value all that gross
> > stuff we produce actually has.  This original thread about trouble would
> > seem to suggest that much if not most of our GNP has limited value other
> > than to perpetuate a system that makes folks dull.