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US energy requirements peaked in 2007 and have been on the decline, we use less energy in 2016 than we did in 2000, thanks to gains in efficiency. https://www.

US energy requirements peaked in 2007 and have been on the decline, we use less energy in 2016 than we did in 2000, thanks to gains in efficiency. https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=30652 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=30652 https://www.statista.com/statistics/189723/us-energy-consumption-per-person-since-2000/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/189723/us-energy-consump...

chris_va 9y ago
Worldwide energy demand, though, is consistently going up Y/Y.
- ZoeZoeBee 9y ago
  But this article is about the _US_ wind industry, and US installers won't be installing worldwide
  - chris_va 9y ago
    True true, but the 100k is more than just installers. The US employs a lot of engineers, and we export design/technology to the rest of the world.
epistasis 9y ago
As we electrify our transit sector, there will be a bump in consumption.
- ZoeZoeBee 9y ago
  Those stats are not for electricity, they're for total energy consumption including transportation.
  - altcognito 9y ago
    In fact it wouldn't be surprising if much of the savings is actually due to efficiencies in transportation
    - lkbm 9y ago
      This thread got me curious, and while I didn't find a lot of sources talking about it, this one[0] gives some likely possibilities: urbanization means less transport energy costs and less domestic manufacturing means less industrial energy usage. It doesn't talk much about why residential energy usage has dropped. I'm guessing it's people moving from their giant houses into smaller homes or apartments following the recession (combined with the general trend towards urbanization). I'm assuming it's not just that LED bulbs changed the landscape. [0] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-10/why-capita-energy-consumption-recession-levels-after-six-years-recovery http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-10/why-capita-energy-c...
      - philipkglass 9y ago
        I believe it's mostly efficiency measures. Americans are collectively driving more now than in 2007: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M12MTVUSM227NFWA https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M12MTVUSM227NFWA Note that petroleum consumption by transportation is nonetheless lower now than circa 2005 (eyeballing the graph): https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=30652 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=30652 Coal-to-gas switching in electrical generation (and increased renewables generation, to a smaller extent) also reduces the primary energy consumption for a given level of generation. You might need 3 megajoules of primary (thermal) energy to produce 1 megajoule of electricity using coal-fired generation. It's more like 2 megajoules of primary energy using gas-fired generation in a modern combined cycle plant. And it's just 1 megajoule of primary energy to deliver 1 megajoule of electricity with wind power or PV (they're not heat engines; the electricity is the whole of the energy). Someone can consume exactly the same amount of electricity now as in 2007 but the changing generation mix would still reduce the primary energy input required to generate that electricity.
  - epistasis 9y ago
    Yes, and as the other poster points out we'll end up using less overall energy, but the point under discussion was demand for these jobs, which produce electricity.

chris_va 9y ago

Worldwide energy demand, though, is consistently going up Y/Y.

ZoeZoeBee 9y ago
But this article is about the _US_ wind industry, and US installers won't be installing worldwide
- chris_va 9y ago
  True true, but the 100k is more than just installers. The US employs a lot of engineers, and we export design/technology to the rest of the world.

epistasis 9y ago

As we electrify our transit sector, there will be a bump in consumption.

ZoeZoeBee 9y ago
Those stats are not for electricity, they're for total energy consumption including transportation.
- altcognito 9y ago
  In fact it wouldn't be surprising if much of the savings is actually due to efficiencies in transportation
  - lkbm 9y ago
    This thread got me curious, and while I didn't find a lot of sources talking about it, this one[0] gives some likely possibilities: urbanization means less transport energy costs and less domestic manufacturing means less industrial energy usage. It doesn't talk much about why residential energy usage has dropped. I'm guessing it's people moving from their giant houses into smaller homes or apartments following the recession (combined with the general trend towards urbanization). I'm assuming it's not just that LED bulbs changed the landscape. [0] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-10/why-capita-energy-consumption-recession-levels-after-six-years-recovery http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-10/why-capita-energy-c...
    - philipkglass 9y ago
      I believe it's mostly efficiency measures. Americans are collectively driving more now than in 2007: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M12MTVUSM227NFWA https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M12MTVUSM227NFWA Note that petroleum consumption by transportation is nonetheless lower now than circa 2005 (eyeballing the graph): https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=30652 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=30652 Coal-to-gas switching in electrical generation (and increased renewables generation, to a smaller extent) also reduces the primary energy consumption for a given level of generation. You might need 3 megajoules of primary (thermal) energy to produce 1 megajoule of electricity using coal-fired generation. It's more like 2 megajoules of primary energy using gas-fired generation in a modern combined cycle plant. And it's just 1 megajoule of primary energy to deliver 1 megajoule of electricity with wind power or PV (they're not heat engines; the electricity is the whole of the energy). Someone can consume exactly the same amount of electricity now as in 2007 but the changing generation mix would still reduce the primary energy input required to generate that electricity.
- epistasis 9y ago
  Yes, and as the other poster points out we'll end up using less overall energy, but the point under discussion was demand for these jobs, which produce electricity.