By Institute for Energy Research ——Bio and Archives--September 7, 2011
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Now think about your energy slaves as you go about your day. Every time you leave a 75 Watt light bulb burning, one of these very strong energy slaves is pedaling away as hard as he can to keep it going for you. If that 25 mpg car has a 100 horsepower motor, it's the equivalent of 1,000 strong people. If you add up all the power we Americans use, on average, to light and heat our homes, transport us, etc. and convert it to the human energy equivalent, it's an unimaginable opulence by the standards of all the humans who came before us. It is as if our well-being were measured by the number of energy slaves we have learned to command.The transition from human power to animal power to machine power has made energy the master resource. "Energy will do anything that can be done in the world," stated Johann Wolfgang von Goethe during the Industrial Revolution.[3] The labor-enhancing, labor-saving characteristic of energy-enabled machinery was described by Erich Zimmermann in the mid-twentieth century as follows:
The shift to machine power changed America from a rural agricultural nation to an industrial giant. It also made men's lives easier and richer. In 1850, the average American worked seventy hours a week. Today he works forty-three. In 1850, our average American produced about 27 cents' worth of goods in an hour. Today he produces about $1.40 worth in dollars of the same purchasing power.[4]"By providing energy flows of high power density, fossil fuels and electricity made it possible to embark on a large-scale industrialization," energy polymath Vaclav Smil more recently observed, "creating a predominantly urban civilization with unprecedented levels of economic growth reflected in better health, greater social opportunities, higher disposable incomes, expanded transportation and an overwhelming flow of information."[5] The benefits of modern energy contribute to days off to relax and celebrate and even permanent retirement from work. This Labor Day, we should take time to appreciate energy in its many manifestations. [1] Thomas Edison, quoted in Theresa Collins and Lisa Gitelman. Thomas Edison and Modern America (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002), p. 60. [2] Matt Ridely, The Rational Optimist [3] Quoted in Vaclav Smil, Energy: A Beginner's Guide (Oxford: One World, 2006), epigraph. [4] Erich Zimmermann, World Resources and Industries (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1951), p. 58. [5] Vaclav Smil, Energies (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1999), p. 134.
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The Institute for Energy Research (IER) is a not-for-profit organization that conducts intensive research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets. IER maintains that freely-functioning energy markets provide the most efficient and effective solutions to today’s global energy and environmental challenges and, as such, are critical to the well-being of individuals and society.