The Most Energy Efficient Economy In History

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Jccarlton
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The Most Energy Efficient Economy In History

Post by Jccarlton »

The American economy is more efficient in GDP/Joule Than at any other time in history:
http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2010/05/200 ... my-in.html
Here's one reason why:
http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2010/05/rai ... ubled.html

The American rail system has almost completely transformed itself in the last 30 years, becoming much more efficient and forwarding freight at an ever improving rate using fewer resources to do it.

chrismb
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Re: The Most Energy Efficient Economy In History

Post by chrismb »

Jccarlton wrote:The American economy is more efficient in GDP/Joule Than at any other time in history:
http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2010/05/200 ... my-in.html
Here's one reason why:
http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2010/05/rai ... ubled.html

The American rail system has almost completely transformed itself in the last 30 years, becoming much more efficient and forwarding freight at an ever improving rate using fewer resources to do it.
I don't think your post addresses the topic line.

I put a good long coffee-break of time into working out the figures on;

viewtopic.php?p=34510#34510

...so there it is.

Actually, as I trudged through different countries with their official statistics I came across some anomalies that deviated too far from this ~1MJ/USD +- 1oom and it clearly demonstrated errors in the data. One such example was the Gaza Strip that, according to official figures, was something like 0.001MJ/USD which [data errors notwithstanding] either suggests they are usefully producing stuff with no power, and/or they somehow have use of power that isn't being registered.

On the subject of trains, I feel they are an anachronistic left-over of a bygone age, occupying prime real-estate that could be usefully used to lay down an advanced [interactive] road surface that can carry dedicated rubber-tyred vehicles that can then simply drive off that dedicated road and onto the general highways. It is less of a case for the US and Canada where there is loads of space just to build another road, but in UK I think there is definitely the case to rip up all the rail track and lay down some good roads [for dedicated vehicles]. Just stand next to a busy road, then stand next to a 'busy' rail track and tell me which one is best utilised!!

taniwha
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Post by taniwha »

Definitely railways, at least here in Japan. In ten minutes during rush hour, I'll see six or more 10-car passenger trains pass, each car crammed with people. So that's maybe 100000 people passing per hour. You won't see a four lane road (similar width) carry anywhere near that number (all those 1 or two passenger (including driver) cars).

Torulf2
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Post by Torulf2 »

This is properly an illusion. The US economy have grown threw bubbles and speculation with no connection to the material reality. The only energy needed to make money is to drive the computers at Wall-Street.

Jccarlton
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Post by Jccarlton »

Torulf2 wrote:This is properly an illusion. The US economy have grown threw bubbles and speculation with no connection to the material reality. The only energy needed to make money is to drive the computers at Wall-Street.
The fact is that alone the US manufacturing economy alone is the fourth largest in the world.
http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2009/12/us- ... er-in.html

But the things we make are not the same things we used to make and the things we used to make we do using far fewer people and much more intelligence.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... id=topnews

Here's Boeing making planes with flexible manufacturing techniques on an assembly line:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKnsyYbfC60
The biggest unsung story of US history is how we keep evolving and innovating constantly the ways in which things are made.
http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2009/02/mad ... -well.html

MSimon
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Post by MSimon »

Actually, as I trudged through different countries with their official statistics I came across some anomalies that deviated too far from this ~1MJ/USD +- 1oom and it clearly demonstrated errors in the data. One such example was the Gaza Strip that, according to official figures, was something like 0.001MJ/USD which [data errors notwithstanding] either suggests they are usefully producing stuff with no power, and/or they somehow have use of power that isn't being registered.
It all depends on how you handle unearned income - i.e. UN "donations" etc.
Engineering is the art of making what you want from what you can get at a profit.

Torulf2
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Post by Torulf2 »

I do dot doubt the American industry is the best in the world. But in most of the infra structure, buildings and recycling USA is far behead Japan and parts of Europe.

WizWom
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Post by WizWom »

Torulf2 wrote:I do dot doubt the American industry is the best in the world. But in most of the infra structure, buildings and recycling USA is far behead Japan and parts of Europe.
We have the technologies, it's not cost effective.

Europe is about 10 times as densely populated.

Japan is about twice Europe.

We have an awful lot of room to put trash. stuff in a landfill is still there, a hundred years later. It can be recycled when it pays to do it.

Likewise buildings. We're a victim of our own success... it's more expensive over 30 years to make it use 1/2 the energy than to use the (currently quite low) good enough and pay twice as much for HVAC. And it's even less cost effective to rehap all the old buildings. This is because we have the lowest cost for fuels in the world.

So - we can make spring concrete, R-50 buildings and automated recyclers with the best of them. We just don't bother.
Wandering Kernel of Happiness

IntLibber
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Post by IntLibber »

Torulf2 wrote:I do dot doubt the American industry is the best in the world. But in most of the infra structure, buildings and recycling USA is far behead Japan and parts of Europe.
I'm sure thats what they tell you in school. The good congressman from Vermont, Peter Welch, was on the radio last month claiming that Germany, for example, gets 20% of its energy from wind power, a fact which is utterly bogus, they get about 2% total from all renewables, yet when confronted with this fact he refused to believe it and insisted he was right.

"It's not what you don't know, but what you know but ain't so that will kill you."

The US is so awash in recycled materials that the bottom of the market has dropped out of them and recycling centers are drowning in paper, plastic, and glass that they can't get rid of without paying people to take it.

I went to the local dump a few months ago to get rid of some old computer CRTs. They showed me a half a warehouse full of them piled up. They are charging 10 bucks per CRT to take them off your hands, but they aren't allowed to put them in the landfill, even though they cannot sell them to any electronics recycler.

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