Energy

Human activities are closely dependent on the usage of several forms and sources
of energy to perform work. Energy is the potential that allows movement and/or the
modification of matter (e.g. making steel by combining iron and carbon). The energy
content of an energy source is the available energy per unit of weight or volume, but
the challenge is to effectively extract and use this energy. Thus, the more energy
consumed the greater the amount of work realized and it comes as no surprise that
economic development is correlated with greater levels of energy consumption.
There are four types of physical work related to human activities:

Modification of the environment. All the activities

involved in making space suitable for human activities, like
clearing land for agriculture, modifying the hydrography
(irrigation), and establishing distribution infrastructures, as
wells as constructing and conditioning (temperature and
light) enclosed structures.
Appropriation of resources. Involves the extraction of
agricultural resources from the biomass and raw materials
(minerals, oil, lumber, etc.) for human needs. It also includes
the disposal of wastes, which are in an advanced industrial
society very work intensive to safely dispose of (e.g.
collection, treatment and disposal).
Processing resources. Concerns the modification of
products from the biomass, of raw materials and of goods to
manufacture according to economic needs. Over the last
200 years, work related to processing was considerably
mechanized (e.g. assembly lines).
Transfer. Involves the movement of freight, people and
information from one location to another. It aims to
attenuate the spatial inequities in the location of resources
by overcoming distance. The less energy costs per ton or
passenger - kilometer, the less importance have transfers.
Overcoming space in a global economy requires a
substantial amount of work and thus energy and has
consequently been subject to massive economies of scale.
There are enormous reserves of energy able to meet the future needs of mankind.
Unfortunately, one of the main contemporary issues is that many of these reserves are not

necessarily available at competitive costs, such as solar energy, or are unevenly distributed
around the world, such as oil. Still, the competitiveness of an energy source can improve with
technological development and even if some energy sources are extracted far from where
they are consumed, the massification of transportation enables to move them. Through
the history of mankind's use of energy, the choice of an energy source depended on a number
of utility factors which involved atransition in energy systems from solid, liquid and
eventually to gas sources of energy. Since the industrial revolution, efforts have been made to
have work being performed by machines, which considerably improved industrial
productivity. The development of steam engine and the generation and distribution of electric
energy over considerable distances have also altered the spatial pattern of manufacturing
industries by liberating production from a direct connection to a fixed power system. While
in the earlier stages of the industrial revolution factories located close to sources of energy (a
waterfall or a coal field) or raw materials, mass conveyances and new energy sources
(electricity) enabled a much greater locational flexibility.Industrial development places large
demands on fossil fuels. At the turn of the 20th century, the invention and commercial
development of the internal combustion engine, notably in transport equipment, made
possible the efficient movement of passengers and freight and incited the development of a
global trade network. With globalization, transportation is accounting for a growing share of
the total amount of energy spent for implementing, operating and maintaining the
international range and scope of human activities. Energy consumption has a strong
correlation with the level of development. Among developed countries, transportation now
accounts between 20 and 25% of the total energy being consumed. The benefits conferred by
additional mobility, notably in terms of a better exploitation of comparative advantages, have
so far compensated the growing amount of energy spent to support it. At the beginning of the
21st century, the transition reached a stage where fossil fuels, notably petroleum, are
dominant. Out of the worlds total power production, 87.1% is derived from fossil fuels.2.
Transportation and Energy ConsumptionTransportation and energy is a start a standard
physics application where giving momentum to a mass (people, vehicles, cargo, etc.) requires
a proportional amount of energy. The relationship between transport and energy is a direct
one, but subject to different interpretations since it concerns different transport modes, each
having their own utility and level of performance. There is often a compromise
between speed and energy consumption, related to the desired economic returns. Passengers
and high value goods can be transported by fast but energy intensive modes since the time
component of their mobility tends to have a high value, which conveys the willingness to use
more energy. Economies of scale, mainly those achieved by maritime transportation, are
linked to low levels of energy consumption per unit of mass being transported, but at a lower
speed. This fits relatively well freight transport imperatives, particularly for bulk.
Comparatively, air freight has high energy consumption levels linked to high speed services.
Transportation markets are particularly impacted by three energy issues:

The price level and volatility of energy sources which are

dependent on the processes used in their production. Stable
energy sources are obviously preferred.
Technological and technical changes in the level of
energy performance of transport modes and terminals. An
important goal is thus to improve this energy performance
since it is linked with direct economic benefits for both
operators (lower operating costs) and users (lower rates).

 Environmental externalities related to the use of specific

modes and energy sources and the goal to reduce them.
A trend that emerged since the 1950s concerns the growing share of transportation in the
world'stotal oil consumption; transportation accounts for approximately 25% of world energy
demand and for about 61.5% of all the oil used each year. The impacts of transport on energy
consumption are diverse, including many that are necessary for the provision of transport
facilities:

Vehicle manufacture, maintenance and disposal. The

energy spent for manufacturing and recycling vehicles is a
direct function of vehicle complexity, material used, fleet
size and vehicle life cycle.
Vehicle operation. Mainly involves energy used to provide
momentum to vehicles, namely asfuels, as well as for
intermodal operations. The fuel markets for transportation
activities are well developed.
Infrastructure construction and maintenance. The
building of roads, railways, bridges, tunnels, terminals, ports
and airports and the provision of lighting and signaling
equipment require a substantial amount or energy. They
have a direct relationship with vehicle operations since
extensive networks are associated with large amounts of
traffic.
Administration of transport business. The expenses
involved in planning, developing and managing transport
infrastructures and operations involves time, capital and skill
that must be included in the total energy consumed by the
transport sector. This is particularly the case for public
transit.
Energy production and trade. The processes of exploring,
extracting, refining and distributing fuels or generating and
transmitting energy also require power sources. The
transformation of 100 units of primary energy in the form of
crude oil produces only 85 units of energy in the form of
gasoline. Any changes in transport energy demands
influence the pattern and flows of the worlds energy
markets.
Energy consumption has strong modal variations:

 Land transportation accounts for the great majority of

energy consumption. Road transportation alone is
consuming on average 85% of the total energy used by the
transport sector in developed countries. This trend is not
however uniform within the land transportation sector itself,
as road transportation is almost the sole mode responsible
for additional energy demands over the last 25 years.
Despite a falling market share, rail transport, on the basis of
1 kg of oil equivalent, remains four times more efficient for
passenger and twice as efficient for freight movement as
road transport. Rail transport accounts for 6% of global
transport energy demand.
Maritime transportation accounts for 90% of cross-border
world trade as measured by volume. The nature of water
transport and its economies of scale make it the most
energy efficient mode since it uses only 7% of all the energy
consumed by transport activities, a figure way below its
contribution to the mobility of goods. For terminal
operations, figures vary, but a container terminal usually
have 70% of its energy consumption provided by fossil fuels
(e.g. yard equipment) and 30% by electricity (e.g.
portainers).
Air transportation plays an integral part in the
globalization of transportation networks. The aviation
industry accounts for 8% of the energy consumed by
transportation. Air transport has high energy consumption
levels, linked to high speeds. Fuel is the second most
important cost for the air transport industry accounting for
13-20% of total expenses. This accounts for about 1.2 million
barrels per day. Technological innovations, such as more
efficient engines and better aerodynamics, have led to a
continuous improvement of the energy efficiency of each
new generation of aircrafts.
Further distinctions in the energy consumption of transport can be made between passenger
and freight movements:

Passenger transportation accounts for 60 to 70% of

energy consumption from transportation activities. The
private car is the dominant mode but has a poor energetic
performance, although this performance has
seen substantial improvements since the 1970s, mainly due

to growing energy prices and regulations. Only 12% of the

fuel used by a car actually provides momentum. There is a
close relationship between rising income, automobile
ownership and distance traveled by vehicle. The United
States has one of the highest levels of car ownership in the
world with one car for every two people. About 60% of all
American households owned two or more cars, with 19%
owning three or more. Another trend has been the increasing
rise in ownership of minivans, sport utility vehicles and lightduty trucks for personal use and the corresponding decline
in fuel economy. Fuel consumption is however impacted
by diminishing returns, implying that higher levels of fuel
efficiency involve declining marginal gains in fuel
consumption. Also, the growth of vehicles-miles travelled
is correlated with changes in energy prices and is entering a
phase of maturity in several developed countries.
Freight transportation is dominated by rail and maritime
shipping, the two most energy efficient modes. Coastal and
inland waterways also provide an energy efficient method of
transporting passengers and cargoes. A tow boat moving a
typical load of 15 barges in tow holds the equivalent of 225
rail car loads or 870 truck loads. The rationale for favoring
coastal and inland navigation is based on lower energy
consumption rates of shipping and the general overall
smaller externalities of water transportation. The United
States Marine Transportation System National Advisory
Council has measured the distance that one ton of cargo can
be moved with 3.785 liters of fuel. A tow boat operating on
the inland waterways can move one ton of barge cargo 857
kilometers. The same amount of fuel will move one ton of
rail cargo 337 kilometers or one ton of highway cargo 98
kilometers.
3. Petroleum: The Transport FuelAlmost all transportation modes depend on a form of
the internal combustion engine, with the two most salient technologies being the diesel
engine and the gas turbine, since they are the lynchpin of globalization. While ship and
truck engines are adaptations of the diesel engine, jet engines are an adaptation of the gas
turbine. Transportation is almost completely reliant (95%) upon petroleum products with the
exception of railways using electrical power. While the use of petroleum for other economic
sectors, such as industrial and electricity generation, has remained relatively stable, the
growth in oil demand is mainly attributed to the growth in transportation demand. What
varies is the type and the quality of petroleum derived fuel being used. While maritime
transportation relies on low quality bunker fuel, air transportation requires a specialized fuel
with additives.It is worth having a closer look at the chemical combustion principle of

hydrocarbons. For the majority of internal combustion engines, gasoline (C8H18; four strokes
Otto-cycle engines) serves as fuel, but other sources like methane (CH4; gas turbines), diesel
(mostly trucks), bunker fuel (for ships) and kerosene (turbofans of jet planes) are used. In
a complete and perfect combustion of gasoline the following chemical reaction is achieved:

(2) C8H18 + (25) O2 = (16) CO2 + (18) H2O + energy

Gasoline produces around 46,000 Btu per kilogram combusted, which requires from 16 to 24
kg of air. The energy released by combustion causes a rise in temperature of the products of
combustion. Several factors and conditions influence the level of combustion in an internal
combustion engine to provide momentum and keep efficient operating conditions. The
temperature attained depends on the rate of release and dissipation of the energy and the
quantity of combustion products. Air is the most available source of oxygen, but because air
also contains vast quantities of nitrogen, nitrogen becomes the major constituent of the
products of combustion. The rate of combustion may be increased by finely dividing the fuel
to increase its surface area and hence its rate of reaction, and by mixing it with the air to
provide the necessary amount of oxygen to the fuel.If all internal combustion engines worked
according to the above equation, emissions and thus local environmental impacts of
transportation would be negligible (except for carbon dioxide emissions). The problem is that
combustion in internal combustion engines is imperfect andincomplete for two reasons:

First, the fuel and the oxider are not pure, causing an
imperfect combustion. Although the refining process
provides a "clean" fuel, gasoline is known to have impurities
such as sulfur (0.1 to 5%), sometimes lead (anti-knock agent
being phased out) and other hydrocarbons (like benzene and
butadiene), while air is composed of 78% nitrogen and 21%
oxygen. Thus, other chemical components are part of the
combustion process.
Second, in part because of the first reason and in part
because of the technology of the engine, incomplete
combustion emits other residuals. Combustion in an
engine occurs at an average rate of 25 times per second,
leaving limited time for a complete combustion process.
Besides carbon dioxide and water, a typical internal
combustion engine will produce carbon monoxide (CO),
hydrocarbons (benzene, formaldehyde, butadiene and
acetaldehyde), volatile organic compounds (VOC), sulfur
dioxide (SO2), particulates, and nitrogen oxides (NOx). These
combustion products are the main pollutants emitted in the
environment by transportation.
In addition to the imperfect and incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons, three major
factorsinfluence the rate of combustion and thus emissions of pollutants, which are the
characteristics of vehicles (where technological improvements can play a role), driving
characteristics (where planning and regulation can play a role), and atmospheric conditions.

The internal combustion engine, mostly due to friction, converts less than a third of the
energy they consume into momentum. For electric motors, this figure is above 80%.4.
Transportation and Alternative FuelsAll other things being equal, the energy source with the
lowest cost will always be preferred. The dominance of petroleum-derived fuels is a result of
the relative simplicity with which they can be stored and efficiently used in the internal
combustion engine vehicle. Other fossil fuels (natural gas, propane, and methanol) can be
used as transportation fuels as well but require a more complicated storage system. The
main issue concerning the large-scale uses of alternative vehicle fuels is the large capital
investments required in distribution facilities as compared with conventional fuels. Another
issue is that in terms of energy density, these alternative fuels have lower efficiency than
gasoline and thus require greater volume of on-board storage to cover the equivalent distance
as a gasoline propelled vehicle if performance is kept constant.Alternative fuels in the form
of non-crude oil resources are drawing considerable attention as a result of the non-renewable
character of fossil fuels and the need to reduce emissions of harmful pollutants. The most
prevalent alternatives being considered are:

Biofuels such as ethanol, methanol and biodiesel can be

produced from the fermentation of food crops (sugar cane,
corn, cereals; often called first generation biofuels) or the
biomass (such as wood and grasses; called second
generation biofuels). Their production however requires
large harvesting areas that may compete with other types of
land use. This limit is related to the capacity of plants to
absorb solar energy and transform it through
photosynthesis. This low productivity of the biomass does
not meet the energy needs of the transportation sector.
Besides, the production of ethanol is an energy-intensive
process. Biodiesel can also be obtained from a variety of
crops. The choice of biomass fuel will largely depend on the
sustainability and energy efficiency of the production
process.
Hydrogen is often mentioned as the energy source of the
future. The steps in using hydrogen as a transportation fuel
consist in producing hydrogen by electrolysis of water or by
extracting it from hydrocarbons. Then, compressing or
converting hydrogen into liquid form and storing it on-board
a vehicle. Finally, using fuel cell to generate electricity on
demand from the hydrogen to propel a motor vehicle.
Hydrogen fuel cells are more efficient than gasoline and
generate near-zero pollutants. But hydrogen suffers from
several problems, particularly since a lot of energy can be
wasted in its production, transfer and storage. Hydrogen
manufacturing requires electricity production. Besides,
hydrogen has a very low energy density and requires very
low temperature and very high pressure storage tank adding

weight and volume to a vehicle. This suggests that liquid

hydrogen fuel would be a better alternative for ship and
aircraft propulsion.
Electricity is being considered as an alternative to
petroleum fuels as an energy source. A pure battery electric
vehicle is considered a more efficient alternative to
hydrogen fuel propelled vehicle as there is no need to
convert energy into electricity since the electricity stored in
the battery can power the electric motor. Besides an all
electric car is easier and cheaper to produce than a
comparable fuel-cell vehicle. The main barriers to the
development electric cars are the lack of storage systems
capable of providing driving ranges and speed comparable
to those of conventional vehicles. The low energy capacity of
batteries makes the electric car less competitive than
internal combustion engines using gasoline. The current
technological level of electric cars has a range around 430
kilometers, which is steadily increasing. As technology
improves, the energy and cost effectiveness of batteries is
getting better. For instance, between 2010 and 2015, the
cost of lithium-ion batteries fell by 65%. Electric vehicles are
eminently suitable for urban transportation for both
passenger and freight because of the lower ranges involved.
Hybrid vehicles consisting of propulsion system using an
internal combustion engine supplemented by an electric
motor and batteries, which provides opportunities combining
the efficiency of electricity with the long driving range of an
internal combustion engine. A hybrid vehicle still uses liquid
fuel as the main source of energy but the engine provides
the power to drive the vehicle or is used to charge the
battery via a generator. Alternatively, the propulsion can be
provided by the electricity generated by the battery. When
the battery is discharged, the engine starts automatically
without intervention from the driver. The generator can also
be fed by using the braking energy to recharge the battery.
Such a propulsion design greatly contributes to overall fuel
efficiency. Given the inevitable oil depletion, the successful
development and commercialization of hybrid vehicles
appears on the medium term the most sustainable option to
conventional gasoline engine powered vehicles.

The diffusion of non-fossil fuels in the transportation sector has serious limitations. While
the price of oil has increased over time, it has been subject to significant fluctuations. The
comparative costs of alternative energy sources to fossil fuels are higher in the transportation
sector than in other types of economic activities. This suggests higher competitive advantages
for the industrial, household, commercial, electricity and heat sectors to shift away from oil
and to rely on solar, wind or hydro-power. Transportation fuels based on renewable energy
sources might not be competitive with petroleum fuels unless of significant price increases.5.
Transportation and Peak OilThe extent to which conventional non-renewable fossil fuels will
continue to be the primary resources for nearly all transportation fuels is subject to debate.
But the gap between demand and supply, once considerable, is narrowing, an effect
compounded by the peaking off of global oil production. The steady surge in demand from
developing economies, particularly China and India, requires additional outputs. This raises
concern about the capacity of major oil producers to meet this rising world demand. The
producers are not running out of oil, but the existing reservoirs may not be capable of
producing on a daily basis the increasing volumes of oil that the world requires. Reservoirs
do not exist as underground lakes from which oil can easily be extracted. There are
geological limits to the output of existing fields. This suggests that an additional reserves
need to be found to compensate for the declining production of existing fields. Reserves
additions in Alaska, off-shore West Africa or the Caspian sea basin are not enough to offset
this growing demand. The bitumen reserves in Alberta, Canada for instance are estimated at
170 billion barrels, second in the world in terms of oil reserves, behind Saudi Arabia. But
extracting heavy oil from sands bitumen necessitates much energy and water. The production
of 1 barrel of bitumen requires burning 10-20% of the energy content of the resulting crude
oil in the form of natural gas.Others argue that the history of the oil industry is marked
by cycles of shortages and surplus. The rising price of oil will render cost effective oil
recovery in difficult areas. Deep water drilling, extraction from tar sands and oil shale should
increase the supply of oil that can be recovered and extracted from the surface. But there is a
limit to the capacity of technological innovation to find and extract more oil around the world
and the related risks can be very high. Technological development does not keep pace with
surging demand. The construction of drilling rigs, power plants, refineries and pipelines
designed to increase oil exploitation is a complex and slow process. The main concern is the
amount of oil that can be pumped to the surface on a daily basis. Some studies predict that
carbon sequestration in the form of CO2 capture and storage, if technically and economically
viable, could enhance the recovery of oil from conventional wells and prolong the life of
partially depleted oil fields well into the next century.High fuel prices could stimulate the
development of alternatives, but automotive fuel oil is relatively inelastic. Higher prices
result in very marginal changes in demand for fuel. While the equivalent of $100 per barrel
was for a long time considered a threshold that would limit demand for automotive fuel and
lead to a decline in passenger and freight-km, evidence suggests that higher oil prices had
limited impact on the average annual growth rate of world motorization. The analysis of the
evolution of the use of fossil fuels suggests that in a market economy the introduction of
alternative fuels is leading to an increase in the global consumption of both fossil and
alternative fuels and not to the substitution of crude oil by bio-based alternative fuels. This
suggests that in the initial phase of an energy transition cycle, the introduction of a new
source of energy complements existing supply until the new source of energy becomes price
competitive to be an alternative. The presence of both renewable and non-renewable types of
fuels stimulates the energy market with the concomitant result of increasing greenhouse gas
emissions. The production of alternative fuels adds up to the existing fossil fuels and does not
replace it.The main concern is the amount of oil that can be pumped to the surface on a daily
basis, especially where major oil fields have reached peak capacity. Under such

circumstances, oil prices are bound to rise in a substantial way, sending significant price
signals to the transport market. How the transport system will respond and adapt to higher
energy prices is obviously subject to much debate and interpretations. The following potential
consequences can be noted:

Road. As far as the automobile is concerned, higher oil

prices could trigger changes in several phases. Initially,
commuters would simply absorb the higher costs either by
cutting on their discretionary spending. Depending on their
level of productivity, many economies could show a
remarkable resilience. The next phase would see changes in
commuting patterns (e.g. carpooling), attempts to use public
transit, a rapid adoption of vehicles with high gasoline
efficiency (in the United States, this could mark the downfall
of the SUV) and a search for other transport alternatives.
The existing spatial structure could also start to show signs
of stress as the unsustainability of car dependent areas
become more apparent. There is already evidence that peak
car mobility may have been reached in the United States. As
high commuting costs and the inflationary effects of high oil
prices on the economy become apparent many would no
longer be able to afford living in a suburban setting. Cities
could start to implode. The trucking industry would behave
in a similar way, first by lowering their profits and their
operating expenses (e.g. scheduling, achieve FTL), but at
some point, higher prices will be passed on to their
customers.
Rail. This mode is set to benefit substantially from higher
energy prices as it is the most energy efficient land
transportation mode. Rail is about three times more energy
efficient than trucking. The level of substitution for
passengers and freight remains uncertain and will depend
on the current market share and level of service they offer.
In North America, passenger rail has limited potential while
in Europe and Pacific Asia passenger rail already assume a
significant market share. For rail freight, North American
freight distribution has an advantage since rail account for a
dominant share of tons-km while this figure is less significant
for other regions of the world, mainly due to the distances
involved and the fragmentation of the system. In many
cases, there could a pressure towards the electrification of
strategic long distance corridors and the development of
more efficient cargo handling facilities. Thus, growing energy

prices are likely to affect long distance rail transportation

differently depending on the geographical setting and the
conditions of the existing system.
Air. This mode could be significantly impaired, both for
passengers and freight. Air transportation is a highly
competitive industry and the profit margins tend to be low.
Fuels account for about 15% of the operating expenses of an
air carrier, but because most of the other costs are fixed any
variations in energy prices is reflected directly on air fares. A
long term increase in energy prices, reflected in jet fuel, is
likely to impact discretionary air travel (mainly tourism), but
air freight, due to its high value, may be less impacted.
Technological developments are helping maintaining the
competitiveness of air transportation with more fuel efficient
planes.
Maritime. This mode is likely to be relatively unaffected as
it is the most energy efficient, but fuel is an important
component of a ship's operating costs. The response of
maritime shippers over higher energy prices tends to be
lowering speed (slow steaming), which may have impacts on
port call scheduling. On the long run, higher energy prices
may however indirectly impact maritime transportation by
lowering demand for long distance cargo movements and
incite port calls at ports having the most direct and efficient
hinterland connections. In addition, this context may favor
the development of short coastal and fluvial services where
possible.
Higher energy prices will trigger notable changes in usage, modes, networks and supply chain
management. From a macro perspective, and since transportation is a very complex system,
assessing the outcome of high energy prices remains hazardous. What appears very likely is a
strong rationalization, a shift towards more energy efficient modes as well as a higher level of
integration between modes to create multiplying effects in energy efficiency. As higher
transport costs play in, namely for containers, many manufacturing activities will reconsider
the locations of production facilities to sites closer to markets (near-sourcing). While
globalization was favored by cheap and efficient transport systems, the new relationships
between transport and energy are likely to restructure the global structure of production and
distribution towards regionalization.

environmental problems. The most important impacts include:

 Climate change.
Air quality
Noise.
Water quality.
Soil quality.

Biodiversity.
Land takes.

Energy efficiency legislation applicable to transportation