21Introduction to Sustainable Energy
© 2008 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
conventional oil, and natural gas. To address this crisis, the world will make a new kind
of energy transition that is quite different from any past experience. It will be a transition
from growth to decline in surplus energy, primarily for transportation. All energy end-use
infrastructure and activities will adapt to using less energy. Those businesses and cities
that adapt the fastest will be the most prosperous during this transition.
In order to get an idea of the scale of the transition from current energy systems to
renewable systems, one needs to examine the detailed pattern of energy supply and con-
sumption. It is useful to look at end-use consumption by dividing ...