Let’s start at the beginning. What is energy? Simple question, but a difficult answer.
In this first episode of Energy 101, I explain how the standard definition of energy that we learned at school isn’t quite the whole picture. Instead, energy is all about how the whole of human society functions, and how people relate to the technologies around them.
Episode 1. What is energy?
Energy services are the things we use energy for, such as mobility, heating, lighting, entertainment. It means that our demand for energy is driven by our lifestyles.
Our standards of living (our energy services) are always going up - and here I take a look at 6 reasons why that may be the case including genetics, desire for comfort and the culture we live in,
Remember, we don’t demand petrol, we demand mobility. We don’t demand gas, we demand warmth and hot food.
Episode 2. Energy Services
For me, the Kaya Identity is the most important equation in the study of energy and climate.
Yet most people have never heard of it. I’m on a mission to change that.
The Kaya Identity splits carbon emissions into 4 key drivers: standard of living, energy efficiency, carbon intensity of fuels and population. It reveals a startlingly simple truth - there’s only 4 things you can do to reduce CO2 emissions.