Q&A: ‘Crossing the Energy Divide’
By Jim Witkin in the New York Times, January 19 2010
According to Robert Ayres and Edward Ayres, brothers and co-authors of the recently published book, “Crossing the Energy Divide,” the American economy uses energy with only 13 percent efficiency.
This means for every unit of fuel burned, only 13 percent of the potential energy is actually converted as useable output to power machines, and illuminate and heat buildings.
Most of the remaining energy is discarded, typically in the form of waste heat that, with the right application of technology, could be used for electricity generation or space and water heating.
