Energy interdependence: today and tomorrow. [Interaction among nations will be required]

Technical Report · Sat Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1978

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6868791· OSTI ID:6868791

Barkenbus, J N

The current fossil-fuel era, from an institutional perspective, differs substantially from the previous century's wood-based energy system: large institutions are now responsible for satisfying the consumer's energy needs; long distances often separate resource exploitation from resource consumption; and governments now play major roles in effecting the movement and sale of energy. Though fossil fuels have presented man with an unprecedented energy surplus, the finite nature of these resources has created a precarious network of global energy trade and led to serious vulnerabilities within the industrial nations. Future energy systems, based upon nuclear and solar technologies, will make use of fuels which, unlike fossil fuels, are abundant and ubiquitous. An energy future free from the limitations and vulnerabilities associated with the fossil-fuel era is envisioned. For numerous reasons, however, utilization of these technologies--over the next half century or so--will require interaction among nations. As a consequence, energy interdependence, rather than national energy independence, is likely to predominate well into the twenty-first century. 50 footnotes.

• Research Organization: Institute for Energy Analysis, Oak Ridge, Tenn. (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: EY-76-C-05-0033
• OSTI ID: 6868791
• Report Number(s): ORAU/IEA-78-3(O)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
292000* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Supply
Demand & Forecasting
299000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Unconventional Sources & Power Generation
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ENERGY
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
ENERGY SHORTAGES
ENERGY SOURCES
ENERGY SUPPLIES
FORECASTING
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GLOBAL ASPECTS
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
LEGAL ASPECTS
MARKET
NUCLEAR ENERGY
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
RESOURCE DEPLETION
SOLAR ENERGY
WOOD