Energy management

[Julian-Dumitrascu]

The “average household size is inversely proportional to per capita energy use”.
The “average person lived in a household of 4.9 people” in 2020. Population: 7,840,952,880 There may have been 1.6 billion households then.
It seems that people want to live in smaller households. How many people do you want to be in your household usually?
The population is growing. A person’s use of energy is growing. We could produce more energy at huge costs. We seem close to the peak. As resources are running out, any network for energy management can collapse in 9 to 10 decades.
It is easier to reduce the consumption of electrical energy than that of thermal energy.

1. Thermal energy

1.1 They say that we can charge one another USD 0.01 per kWh of thermal energy produced with coal and up to USD 0.04 per kWh of electrical energy, and that we emit 0.37 kg CO2 / kWh of thermal energy. How would we equate these costs to human energy?
A human being consumes on average 21 MWh of primary energy per year, of which they use only 9 (43%).
It seems that in 2021 7.9 billion people consumed more than 82 * 10^12 kWh of thermal energy, which can mean that a human being consumes 10,380 kWh on average every year.
In 2010, the average life expectancy of a human being reached 71 years. It might shorten. In 1960, it was 51 years. Those 50 years may have been exceptional years, of which people born in the 1940s may have benefited the most. They are dying, leaving the people born in this century to deal with imbalances and shortages.
It seems that for 3 million years our life expectancy ranged between 20 and 35 years.

Year numbers

To indicate a year, we can use the numbering suggested by the Christian religion or the numbering shifted by almost 2,000 years, suggested by scientists. Two months after the end of the world war we started testing nuclear weapons, through which we altered the proportion of the [carbon isotopes](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Isotopes_of_carbon) in the atmosphere. This influences radiocarbon dating, so carbon isotopes date over the radio now (!). If they say that the year 1950 becomes year 0, 1949 is year -1. We are in the year 73 of our lord science.

It seems that by the year -450 our life expectancy had exceeded 40 years and that it had exceeded 45 years by year 0. This can mean that one can live for more than 40 years between the years -50 and 150. I’m surprised. I had great-grandparents who lived for more than 80 years. I read old stories about old people. I thought it was common for people to live for many decades. As a teenager I had the feeling that one can live fully for 5 decades. I was unsure I’d live longer than this. At 46 I feel strong and would like to spend 2 more decades with you.

If a human being lives for 70 years on average, they consume 728 MWh of thermal energy, for which they are charged at least USD 7,280. If one works for 40 years, one could earn USD 950k. While one might spend more on thermal energy, it seems that many people can buy the service that we call “heating”.
Irrespective of how we produce thermal energy (We usually set plants on fire.), it seems that plants (mainly trees) are the most reliable source. Coal is the richest resource and the easiest to burn, but it can run out by 2140.
There were 1,074 Gt of coal left in 2021. We'd emit 1,537 Gt of CO2 if we burnt all the coal. Each Gt of GHG emitted, especially after the next 300 Gt, can reduce the quality of our lives and our lifespan. It can decrease one’s income and increase one’s expenses.
We emit 0.18 kg CO2 / kWh of thermal energy produced by burning gas. We’d emit 355 Gt of CO2 if we burnt all the gas. Gas can run out by 2067. We try to burn some gas instead of coal, which means gas can run out sooner.
If the costs of thermal energy are huge, to what extent can we keep them under control?

2. Electrical energy

2.1 “There are 50 billion electric motors in the world, consuming half of all global electricity.”
2.2 It seems difficult to produce electrical energy and to use equipment for converting solar energy after 2080. We might stop using within a century most products made (during the past century) using electrical energy. While we’re advertising machines that consume electrical energy, some people cannot use electrical energy all the time e.g. because they can’t burn enough gas. The difference between how much electrical energy we want to use and how much energy we can produce might increase e.g. because it becomes more and more challenging to take the actions necessary for managing electrical energy.
It becomes more difficult to pump e.g. water, so people might move closer to it and closer to the ground.
It becomes more difficult to carry e.g. food, so some people might move out of towns and others might make carriages.
How do we prepare for those times? Today’s children will try to live through them.
How do we prepare younger people?
How do you, who were born e.g. in the 1950s, prepare me?
How do I prepare people born in the 1980s or later?
I teach my nieces and my goddaughter about nature.
I work in organisations that provide private services and public services that help people manage resources.

2.3 To avoid some environmental costs and some financial costs, we can reduce our consumption of resources, which is the product of population and the average consumption per person.
The population is growing at a slowing rate. It seems it will stop growing.
It seems that the average consumption has been growing. Any person can take actions that result in them consuming:
a. about the same amounts of resources or causing about the same amount of GHG to be emitted
b. more or causing a larger amount of GHG to be emitted
c. less or causing a smaller amount of GHG to be emitted.
What feels more appealing to you?

While we can discuss any case, I share that we can help people e.g. to:

• save water.
• avoid wasting food.
• save energy.
• keep transportation costs under control.