Can we become ‘energy literate’?

The author advocates for an 'energy literate' approach to the energy transition, based on scientific evidence from the Energy Sustainability Challenge (ESC). The text highlights research on reducing water use in power plants globally and in China, increasing US bio-ethanol production via perennial energy cane, and the role of carbon pricing and energy efficiency in lowering carbon intensity.

• The Energy Sustainability Challenge (ESC), a consortium of experts from 13 universities funded by BP, provides scientific evidence to support policy making and business planning regarding the intertwining of energy, water, and land.
• Research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology indicates that global water usage in power stations and fuel production can be significantly lowered; specifically, using cooling towers for water recycling instead of 'once-through' systems can lead to ten-fold reductions in water use.
• Tsinghua University researchers found that Chinese industrial freshwater use could be reduced over the next 20 years, avoiding a projected doubling, by implementing technical improvements like water recycling in coal mining and washing coal before combustion.
• Studies by the Universities of Berkeley and Illinois at Urbana-Champaign suggest that the US could more than double its bio-ethanol production without competing with food and feed crops by growing perennial energy cane on land unsuitable for conventional arable crops.
• The author posits that while renewable energy is growing, it is expected to provide only about 6% of global supply by 2030, suggesting that faster carbon intensity reductions can be achieved through energy efficiency and replacing coal with gas in power generation.
• BP utilizes a standard carbon cost for projected greenhouse gas emissions in its investment appraisals and engineering designs for large projects to incentivize the innovation needed to lower carbon intensity.

APA

Dudley, B. (2012). Can we become ‘energy literate’? World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/energy-transition/can-we-become-energy-literate/

Chicago

Dudley, Bob. Can we become ‘energy literate’? World Economic Forum, 2012. https://www.weforum.org/stories/energy-transition/can-we-become-energy-literate/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Dudley |first1=Bob |title=Can we become ‘energy literate’? |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=17 September 2012 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/energy-transition/can-we-become-energy-literate/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{dudley2012can, author = {Dudley, Bob}, title = {{Can we become ‘energy literate’?}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2012}, month = sep, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/energy-transition/can-we-become-energy-literate/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }