Seriously? Are you all running your tvs and computers and laundrettes on solar power? WTF?
Or is driving really it? Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire
So, again, what the hell are we using the other 33% for? Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire
Estimated Petroleum Consumption Residental and Commercial Sectors
Estimated Petroleum Consumption: Industrial Sector
Estimated Petroleum Consumption Transportation Sector
Estimated Petroleum Consumption: Energy Power Sector
Which will give an overview.
Off the top of my head, petroleum is used in or for: heating, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, food additives, plastics, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, perfumes, optics, food preservatives, dyes, yarn, binders, adhesives, solvents, glues, insulators, energy production, glazes, fixatives, inks, dryers, paints, a bazillion industrial process chemicals, and, apparently, this glass of wine next to my computer. :-(
The real question is what petroleum doesn't affect even when its use in transportation is discounted.
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_cons_psup_dc_nus_mbbl_m.htm
Divide by 31 for May and away you go.
total supplied = 634/31 = 20.5 MMBD
all sorts of goodies in the mix beyond the gigantic transportation demands
And we have "better" food, by which we mean food that has been grown in a more energy-intensive environment and then shipped a long way. We simply take for granted that there will be lettuce on the table 365 days a year, that there is no "season" for peaches or grapes, and that corn on the cob appears by magic. We eat frozen peas instead of fresh peas... http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/energy/
We eat almost twice as much meat as Europeans, which is very expensive from an energy viewpoint. In Kg per person: Europe 74.3 North America 123.2 http://earthtrends.wri.org/index.php
To significantly reduce American energy use would require considerable self-examination, and some lifestyle changes. Prediction: It won't happen.
