ABSTRACT
Energy is needed for heating, cooling, and lighting homes, offices, and manufacturing plants; cooking; transportation; farming; manufacturing of goods; and a variety of other uses. Buildings in the United States use 36% of the total energy and 65% of the electricity, produce 30% of the greenhouse emissions, use 30% of the raw materials, produce 30% of the waste and consume 12% of the potable water.2 Homes in the United States use 46% of their energy for space heating, 15% for heating water, 10% for food storage, 9% for space cooling, 7% for lighting, and 13% for other uses.3 The corresponding figures for commercial buildings are 31%, 4%, 5%, 16%, 28%, and 16%. Transportation accounts for one-fourth of the energy consumption and two-thirds of the oil used in the United States. Industry uses 37% of the energy in the United States. Agriculture, including the transportation and processing of foods, uses about 17% of the energy in the United States. Industrialized societies tend to be energy intensive. Most of this energy is derived from fossil fuels. In 1993, oil provided 39% of the world’s energy, natural gas 22%, and coal 26%, whereas hydropower and other renewable energy sources provided only 8%.4 Nuclear power accounted for 5% of the total. In 2004, the world obtained 39% from oil, 24% from coal, 23% from natural gas, 7% from nuclear sources, and 7% from renewable sources of which 90% was hydropower.5 This energy consumption has produced various problems, some of which are quite serious. Even nuclear energy and renewable energy have problems that need to be solved. Although technology can solve some of these problems, others may require changes in our lifestyles, habits, value systems, and outlooks. This chapter will focus primarily on the role that chemistry can play in solving some of the problems.6 It will also mention areas in which social factors play important roles.
