INTRODUCTION Energy Makes California Go Around

Energy, in all of its grand manifestations, is fundamental to all existence. The science of energy is so all-encompassing that few of us can really grasp it, even though it is the stuff that literally makes the world go around. Without energy, all life would cease. Our entire bodies are wired for electric impulses originating in the brain that regu- late our most fundamental functions. Whether talking about the processing of internal organs, thoughts racing through your mind, or the simple act of walking, flows of energy are at the core of the activity. However, that is just the beginning. There is then the great, big, wild world outside of your human body. Energy is constantly being generated, expended, and recovered among animals and plant life. Inanimate objects, such as rocks and stones, are also subjected to the power of energy flows in dramatic ways (earthquakes) as well as more subtle changes (the erosion of a hillside over time). Everywhere you look, energy is at play. However, energy is often a phantom force. Here is how author describes this enchanting enigma:

Physicists have no more insight into energy's ultimate essence than do poets and philosophers. They therefore define energy not in terms of what it is, but by what it does: as "the ability to do work" or "the capacity to move or change matter..." Though we are considering something inherently

xvii elusive (we cannot, after all, hold a jar of pure energy in our hands or describe its shape or color), energy is nevertheless a demonstrable reality. Without energy, nothing happens. —Heinberg 2003:10

Like the other topics covered in the California Natu- ral History Guide series—water, air, and fire—energy is a basic building block of our world. Energy, however, seems to be something bigger than water, air, or fire. Energy flows serve as the very foundation of California's natural history. This natural history, in turn, sets the stage for a remarkable story full of innovation, greed, and, in the end, an ecological quagmire: global climate change. Energy manufactured by humans has pushed modern civilization to the brink. Physicists may have the most precise definition of energy—overcoming resistance—but those two words hardly do justice to what happens during everyday expenditures of energy whizzing around us. Energy is everywhere. Yet we can never just reach out and touch energy. Rarely do we directly see it (only its consequences), and we feel it only through diverse transactions too numerous to mention. The sun, a star nearly 100 million miles away, is the most important energy source for Earth. Sunlight provides energy flows that feed photosynthesis, which is the conversion of solar radiation into biomass that ranges from tiny microscopic sea phytoplankton to towering redwood trees, the tallest living creatures on Earth. These plants and other living creatures serve as the foundation of all life, including human civilizations. Here is how the author John M. Fowler described the situation:

For most of life, animal and plant, energy means food; and most of life turns to the Sun as ultimate source. The linked- life patterns—the ecosystems—that have been established between plants and animals are very complex; the paths of energy wind and twist and double back, but ultimately they all begin at that star that holds us in our endless circle. —Fowler 1975 xvili Produced by intense thermonuclear processes, solar radia- tion not only helps spur the stockpiling of chemical energy in all things that grow, but it is also the genesis of the kinetic energy of water and wind power. The sun also provides us with heat, and its energy is preserved in fossil fuels. With the stored energy of fossil fuels, whose origins date back to the days of dinosaurs, there was no need to ever interrupt a person's routine or habits when wood was wet or scarce, the sun went down, the wind stopped, or the stream dried up in late summer. These fossil fuels, after all, were solar energy stored in biomass that then decayed and became transformed into solids (coal), liquids (petroleum), and gas (natural gas). Tapping into these primordial energy sources propelled a new lifestyle that allowed citizens more time to engage in activities that went beyond the mundane tasks linked to daily survival. These energy sources also greatly multiplied the energy amounts that each human had at his or her disposal. Humanity's need to find food and to stay warm intro- duced and revolutionized the concept of manufactured energy. Wood fuel became the first external energy source employed to solve both the need for heat and to make food more digestible (and thus energy conversion more efficient). In fact, wood fuel has remained a key energy source through- out the world for millennia. We ultimately harnessed the power of coal, petroleum, and natural gas as well as other sources found in nature: direct sunlight itself, the wind blow- ing across land and water alike, and the water gushing down through alpine streams. Modern science also spawned highly complex technologies such as nuclear reactors, which rely upon nuclear fission—whereby atoms are literally split in half—to create energy. More details on the evolution of each major current energy technology can be found in the Main- stays and Alternatives parts of this book. It was not until the invention of the steam engine that the industrial revolution could take place. Losing 99 percent THE LAWS OF NATURAL ENERGY

wo key laws of physics govern energy. The first law of thermodynamics states that the total sum of energy is fixed. Despite the myriad of energy transfers populating the universe, the total quantity of energy is always constant. On earth, energy inventories are kept in rough balance through ageless natural processes. What comes from the sun as radiant energy is equal to what dissipates into outer space as heat. Because the sum total amount of naturally occurring energy cannot be created or destroyed, the management of energy flows has preoccupied scientists for centuries. It is the second law of thermodynamics—sometimes described as "time's arrow" or "entropy"—that poses challenges to society today. This law can be summed up in the following sentence: energy spontaneously tends to flow only in one way, from being concentrated in one place to becoming diffused or dispersed in another. The concept of "entropy" refers to the disorder in a system that ultimately diminishes energy available for the human invention of work through loss of heat. Pollution represents society's tampering with the underpinnings of this second law.

of their available energy from wood or fossil fuels through entropy, the first steam engines still provided the equiva- lent energy of 200 humans. By 1900, improved efficiencies allowed steam engines to provide the equivalent energy of 6,000 humans. The twentieth century shattered previous notions of what was possible in terms of harnessing energy for individual use. Society has deployed and employed more energy since 1900 than all of human history before 1900. If measured on a per-capita basis, each human being on the planet is now responsible for 4 to 5 times as much energy as was the case in ancient times. If we relied solely on human power, each of us would need 20 individuals working 24 hours a day for 365 days of each year to accommodate our energy appetite. Nevertheless, fossil fuels are finite, hence society's conun- drum with the manufactured energy supplies that have his- torically propelled the world economy. A siren was sounded over a half century ago in a report to U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower:

If the growing populations in the and through- out the free world are to make ever greater demands for the output of energy, while avoiding the further serious increases in unit costs, then alternative low-cost sources of energy should be made ready to pick up some of the load by 1975. We must look to solar energy. Efforts made to date to har- ness solar energy economically are infinitesimal. It is time for aggressive research in the whole field of solar energy—an effort in which the United States could make an immense contribution to the welfare of the free world. —President's Materials Policy Commission 1952:1

At present, relying directly upon solar energy still provides less than 1 percent of California's total electricity supply, and California has more solar power online than any other U.S. state. Society, obviously, still has a long way to go when it comes to creating a sustainable energy economy. Today's questions about energy seem to keep tracing back to that star we call the sun. An overreliance upon finite fossil fuels is clearly a dead end. The warning signs are all around us as to why society needs to transition to renewable resources that replenish themselves naturally. In the big picture, the ultimate solution to the question of energy is to manufac- ture technology to harness fuels abundant and free—solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, or water—while simultaneously shrinking our collective energy appetite. This book focuses on humanity's efforts to harness sources of energy to power industrial efforts, light up homes, and fuel our desires to travel. It is also designed to serve as a key reference guide for the array of energy technologies clamor- ing for our attention in the twenty-first century. Whether in the form of electricity—once considered divine magic—or in the liquid transportation fuels we depend upon to support our mobile and global lifestyle, energy makes our modern society work. This modular book is structured in the following way. It begins with a chronological Overview of energy development in California, documenting the state's pioneering spirit in pushing nearly all new forms of energy. Whether recollect- ing about the early hydroelectric innovation that followed the gold rush or the wild race to drill for oil right on southern California beaches, this state's energy history speaks to the wonders of human ingenuity. None of these inventions would have been possible, though, without the natural resources that underpin this colossal state. For example, the lack of coal— and abundance of sunshine—will forever shape California's approach to energy development. The next two parts of this book are a compendium of all of the energy sources found in California, first the Main- stays of the traditional electrical grid and fossil fuels, then the Alternatives of renewable and nuclear energy (pi. 1) and hydrogen. These two parts constitute a reference guide that can be read carefully or quickly scanned before mov- ing on. For each major energy source that could be used by Californians, this guide provides a brief history, the status quo, its pros and cons, and what types of contributions it can provide in the foreseeable future. The next part describes several key Challenges facing California today. It brings the state's energy history up to date, picking up where the first part left off with the at the turn of the last century. The following part delves into several hot-button Innovation issues facing California, Plate 1. The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Reactor near Morro Bay In San Luis Obispo County. the nation, and the rest of the world today. The last section of the book offers some examples of Progress: experimental solutions to the just-described challenges, chronicling stories of pioneering technology and systems thinking here in the Golden State. From global climate change to the terrorist threat, Californians are once again breaking new ground, taking risks, and plowing boldly forward. My hope is that this book serves as a foundation for you to better understand the world of energy and make more informed choices when you vote, when you eat, when you drive, and when you buy. Energy is indeed everywhere. Yet the lack of affordable, reliable, and clean energy might just be the world's most daunting chal- lenge, deeply interwoven with issues such as global poverty, the lack of adequate drinking water, and the ever-present search for a better quality of life.

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