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Published September 22, 2008

Some Energy Factoids To Chew On!

Several weeks ago I wrote a column about the growing demand for petroleum based fuels and the need to conserve as we search for newer and cleaner technologies. I spent several hours today minding a voter registration table at SSCC and when not busy, reading a Scientific American magazine. Below are some interesting factoids related to the growing demand for energy I can across:

China currently has 40 vehicles per 1,000 people.
America currently has 800 vehicles per 1,000 people.
If China attains just half of the US per-capita ownership of passenger cars, it would have approximately 500 million cars on the road.
There are currently approximately 900 million vehicles in use worldwide.
Within a decade China and India could add another 25 to 30 million vehicles to their highways every year.

The conclusion that Scientific American reached was the same that I reached several weeks ago. There simply is NOT enough oil reserves to meet the growing demand. New, cleaner and more affordable forms of energy need to be developed.

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