The Full Energy Picture in about 100 graphics

1. The Energy Picture Infographic
A 2023 Update

2. What would you think if a
business manager said to
you – I don’t pay much
attention to cash or inflation?
Energy is the master
currency for all species
and always has been. It
demands attention!
https://goldsilver.com/blog/fall-of-empires-
rome-vs-usa-hidden-secrets-of-money-
episode-9/

3. “Our most important task is to get off our
collision course. The first step in this process
is to thoroughly understand the problem and
begin to see the possibilities” within
intelligent responses
E.F. Schumacher in his 1973 book, Small Is Beautiful:
Economics as if People Mattered

4. Table of Contents
• Big Energy Picture In 21 Graphics – VLOG #1
• Electricity Picture In 16 Graphics – VLOG #2
• Noted intelligent response – Cogeneration or Combined Heat AND Power
• Natural Gas Picture In 23 Graphics – VLOG #3
• Noted intelligent response – Concentrated Solar AND Biogas
• Oil Picture In 16 Graphics – VLOG #4
• Noted intelligent response – Biodiesel AND algae greenhouses
• Coal Picture In 4 Graphics – VLOG #5
• Nuclear Picture In 9 Graphics – VLOG #6
• Hydro Picture In 3 Graphics – VLOG #7
• Renewables Picture In 21 Graphics – VLOG #8

6. Dense forms of energy with high energy return on investment (EROI) let nature do the work. For example, oil is
just concentrated solar from eons ago.

7. Our Finite World; Compare & Contrast
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-the-worlds-loss-of-forests-since-the-ice-age/

8. • Every day the world uses 98+ million barrels of oil, 328 BCF of natural gas, 15 million tons of coal, 200,000 kilograms of
uranium, 10.4TWh of hydroelectricity and millions of hectares of wind farms, solar panels, forests and cornfields.
• One cubic mile of oil (CMO) equals the oil that the world consumes every year. Three CMOs equal the energy that the
world consumes every year. (More precisely, one CMO equals global oil consumption in 2000; by 2006, consumption
had increased to 1.06 CMO.)

17. Cogeneration, etc.
can drive
efficiencies here

18. https://thinkbeef.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Beef-Sustainibility_the-
untold-story2.pdf

21. Intelligent
Reponses Intro
https://youtu.be/
Jot0RALHVIw
• Description: Host Dan Cloutier, Director of Regenerative Agriculture with
Agrihub will take you through a 7 part series exploring what is regenerative
agriculture and systems that contribute to sound actions for a financially
healthy farm and healthy environment long term .
• Here are key topics covered in part one:
• Achieving permaculture and technological energy efficiency
advancement 6:28
• On profitable energy efficiency and regenerative agriculture in barns and
buildings 14:45
• Establishing a regenerative farm
matrix 17:24
• What makes up a Net Zero Home or Commercial
Building 20:25
• Intelligent response options for regenerative
agriculture 27:25
• Embodied building energy considerations and the green
revolution 33:26
• A profitable integrated regenerative agriculture process
scenario 38:31
• Regenerative and sustainable closed loop
advantages 42:54

22. Electricity Picture

23. There are 3,393 fossil fuel-fired power
plants across the USA, most of which are
natural gas plants. Those plants generate
more than 60 percent of the nation’s
electricity, compared to around 14 percent
produced by wind and solar. The plants
account for around 25 percent of the nation’s
emissions, according to the EPA.

24. • Nationally, 450 landfills and 87 incinerators
produced about 24 million megawatt-hours of
electricity in 2007, about 2 days of U.S.
electricity use.
• By comparison, wind energy contributes about 3
days of U.S. power a year
• Solar produces 76 minutes’ worth.
US Energy Department data, 2009

27. Data centers alone now use 3% of electricity used in the world and growing
It takes an estimated 1,449 kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy to mine a
single bitcoin. That’s the same amount of energy an average U.S.
household consumes in approximately 13 years.

29. Exxon Crushes
Progressive Dreams
That "Net Zero" Has
Any Chance By 2050:
It Would Mean
Collapse In "Global
Standard Of Living" |
ZeroHedge

30. ** Note the above tends to be quoting energy cost only and not include the many forms of add fees
including distribution, transmission, administrations and many forms of taxes. These make up over
half of the bill in many jurisdictions.

31. CHP IS A
SUSTAINABLE
SOLUTION
The EPA and Canada Green
Building Council (LEED)
promote the use of CHP.
EFFICIENCY
• CHP avoids heat and transmission losses, so is
far more efficient than the electric grid.
• Conventional electricity and heat production is only
56% efficient, while CHP generation can reach 80-
90% system efficiency.
ENVIRONMENTAL
• More efficient energy production reduces air
pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
• By recovering ‘waste heat,’ CHP systems reduce
carbon emissions by 15-40% vs. the grid. EPA
statistics show a 5MW natural gas CHP system can
decrease emissions from 45 kT/yr to 23 kT/yr.

32. CONVENTIONAL POWER
GENERATION
COMBINED HEAT AND
POWER
80%

35. Multi-Flex
Fuel By
Yanmar

37. ARK Passive Cooling uses about 5% (only 0.27kWh when operating per 1/10th
acre) of the amount of electricity that a swamp cooler uses (4.9kWh).
The ARK Cooling system uses 0.56 L h m² as compared to a pad and fan cooling system
(source Al-Helal 2007) which showed water consumption of 1.08 L h m² of floor area,
making the NVAC system more efficient in terms of water use efficiency. A swamp
cooler can use 10 gallons of water per hour with no water recovery (Source: McGill
University thesis)

38. Cool air from low to
ground
Hot air out
wind turbines
Buoyancy Effect
Wind Effect
The ARK Cooling System
Screen
mesh
Cools by 6-
20°C or 3.4-
22.7°F while
hardly using
electricity!!

40. dan.cloutier@agrihub.ca

41. Natural Gas
Short Heat Is Trouble

43. According to the report, 155 billion cubic
meters of Russian natgas flowed into
Europe in 2021, representing about 31% of
the continent's natgas supply.
"Replacing a significant portion of this will
be exceedingly difficult, with far-reaching
consequences for Europe's population,
economy, and for the role of gas in the
region's energy transition," Rystad Energy
noted.

47. US Export LNG Traffic

48. Data centers alone now use 3% of electricity used in the world and growing
It takes an estimated 1,449 kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy to mine a
single bitcoin. That’s the same amount of energy an average U.S.
household consumes in approximately 13 years.

54. Canadian Legislated to be Added Carbon Levy
per GJ of Natural Gas:
2021 - $2.02/GJ
2026 - $5.57/GJ
2030 - $8.60/GJ

55. ARK Concentrated Solar Boiler

56. Concentrated Solar
Boiler

57. Concentrated Solar Plant vs Solar PV farm
CSP PV Comment
Capacity - MW 100 100
Sunlight converstion (watts/square meter) 500 200 PV is 200 and solar thermal is 700
Solar collection Area 200,000 500,000
site collection area ratio 2 0.5 stacked csp vs spaced solar farm
Site Area required (m2) 100,000 1,000,000
Site area required (acres) 25 247
investment rate per watt 0.40 1.50
plant cost ($millions) 40 150
Solar Technology Comparison
Evacuated
Tube Collector
Concentrated
Solar Plant
Safe from vacuum loss
X 
Dirt, snow, glass
cleaning, etc X 
Stagnation &
overheating X 
25 years lifetime
X 
Medium temperature
160°C plus X 

59. Most Efficiency Wins
Our 4’ X 28’ parabolic mirror concentrated solar system components reach
efficiencies of 72% at 1000w/m² solar radiation. This aligns well with the
International Journal of Low Carbon Technologies 2011 findings that the best
solar performer was a “natural convection heat pipe system (concentrated solar)
where the maximum temperature reached up to nearly 100°C / 210°F or boiling
water temperatures”. Such temperatures enable the use of hot water for
electrical generation, space heating and cooling and or industrial process heat for
maximum flexibility of use. We can also well store this heated water to overcome
solar intermittency in 3” insulated tanks where our heat loss will be only
22BTU/ft²/hr.

61. Intelligent Response - BioGas
• https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-renewable-natural-gas-boom-coming-advocates-
say-as-companies-turn/
• https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/poop-boom-manure-supplies-tighten-fertilizer-prices-soar

62. In this work, the analysis study of the use of solar thermal energy to heat a
mesophilic digester was carried out. The aim of this work is to compare
between two optimized design which developed by using TRNSYS platform
and chose the best system which can cover almost all need heat energy of
the bio-digester. The result showed that the design 2 is powerful than the
first design [6], i.e, the system 2 cover almost 100 % in all period of the
year, in the contrary the first design occupied 87% for all year.

63. Solar
heat gain
assists
80°C+ hot water supply
about 2000 hours per
year, stored below
lagoon keeps the lagoon
at 20°C+

64. Soil
amendments
INTEGRATED
SYSTEM
SOLUTIONS
Sprung
controlled
climate
cattle barn
High density
nutrient
vertical
fodder
factory
Anaerobic
digestor
Combined
heat,
cooling, CO²
and power
plant
Heico milk
processing
Seed
Greenhouse

65. Biogas
Opportunities
https://youtu.be/-
VbtlnqscyI
• Renewable gas or biogas has become a hot
commodity in recent months in Canada due to
20-year offtake agreements being offered,
rapidly rising fertilizer prices and GHG
pressures. Agrihub has an offering that assists
smaller Canadian farm operations navigate the
complexity of the technology and so forth to a
strong revenue stream.

67. Oil

68. Through
the years
they
become:
Royal Dutch Shell

78. Transport fuel comparisons
Source: https://afdc.energy.gov/files/u/publication/alternative_fuel_price_report_july_2021.pdf

80. Algae Greenhouses

81. Horse Lake First Nation
part insulated and part greenhouse mixed use building

84. The Intelligent
Response of
Biodiesel
https://youtu.be/
KJJ_wnwdTMk
• Small scale biodiesel production plants have
been used by many for a very long time and
we provide one example of a ranch in Alberta.
We lay out sample economics on a single
slide. We look in some detail at feed stock
options from canola, soybean, rapeseed and
algae.

86. Coal

88. Coal making
a global
comeback in
2021
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/worldwide-energy-shortage-shows-up-surging-coal-gas-oil-prices-kemp-2021-09-
24/?taid=614e1b8488b4be000154f6ae&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
UK fires up coal power plant as gas prices soar
While Democrats Try To 'Kill Coal' In US, Asia Heads In The Opposite Direction
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/chinese-coal-prices-soar-record-high-ahead-surge-coal-production
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/us-coal-miners-all-sold-out-coal-2022

89. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/global-coal-fired-electricity-generation-surges-record-high
“China’s coal imports may hit 360 million to 380 million tons in 2023,
according to its top industry association. That compares with 293 million
tons last year, and a record of 327 million tons set in 2013”

91. Nuclear

92. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/
uranium-soars-after-sprott-massively-
upsizes-buying-program-1bn-13bn

94. Current US Nuclear Power Numbers
America currently operates 92 nuclear reactors across 54 commercially
operating nuclear-power plants, providing 18.2 percent of the nation’s
electricity, according to the U.S. Energy Information
Administration (EIA). That’s down from 99 reactors in 2016. The
average nuclear plant employs between 400 and 700 highly skilled
workers, has a payroll of about $40 million, and contributes $470
million to the local economy, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute
trade group.
Source: https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/04/case-for-nuclear-
strengthens-as-first-new-nuclear-reactor-in-decades-goes-online/

96. By 2021, nuclear energy
had fallen to 4.3% of
global energy
production. Several
nuclear accidents—
Chernobyl, Three Mile
Island, and Fukushima—
contributed to turning
sentiment against nuclear
energy.

97. o In 2006, the Energy Watch Group of Germany studied world uranium supplies and issued a report concluding that, in its most optimistic scenario, the
peak of world uranium production will be achieved before 2040. If large numbers of new nuclear power plants are constructed to offset the use of
coal as an electricity source, then supplies will peak much sooner. Thomas Seltmann, “Nuclear Power: The Beginning of the End,” Sun & Wind Energy
(Energy Watch Group, November 2009).
o Today, there are some 441 nuclear power reactors operating in 30 countries. These 441 reactors, with combined capacity of over 376 Gigawatts (One
GWe equals one billion watts or one thousand megawatts), require 69,000 tonnes of uranium oxide (U3O8).
o In all there are over 300 reactors being built. Each GWe of increased capacity will require about 195 tU per year of extra mine production – three
times this for the first fuel load.
o In 2008, mines supplied 51,600 tonnes of uranium oxide concentrate containing 43,853 tU, which means mining supplied roughly 75% of nuclear
utility power requirements. The remaining supply deficit used to be made up from stockpiled uranium held by nuclear power utilities, but their
stockpiles are pretty much depleted. Mine production is now primarily supplemented by ex-military material - the Megatons to Megawatts program
which ended in 2013 - the Russians have stated that the agreement will not be renewed.
o The world only has about 70 years' supply of reactor-grade uranium left at current consumption. New reactors are projected to add an incredible
42% more nuclear power plants within the next decade to 15 years. That means our uranium supply will fall even faster albeit there is hope as we
currently do not have the technology to use most of the energy embodied in uranium or to use thorium.
o “If all the world’s electricity was nuclear-generated, the supply of accessible uranium would be exhausted in nine years.” (source Dr. Helen Caldicott,
https://www.helencaldicott.com/)

98. The world might go increasingly nuclear –
but every cubic mile of oil equivalent
(CMO – energy used globally annually) of
nuclear energy will require 500 new
surface uranium mines; 1,000 new
underground uranium mines; and 2,280
nuclear reactor operations.

101. Hydro

102. Tapped?
Producing one CMO of energy a year from hydro power will require the construction of 153 of China’s Three Gorges Dams –
or one every four months for the next 50 years. But this number of “undammed” rivers do not exist.
Only a third of world’s great rivers remain free flowing, analysis finds
The Guardian
Billions of people rely on rivers for water, food and irrigation, but from the Danube to the Yangtze most large rivers are
fragmented and degraded. Untouched rivers are largely confined to remote places such as the Arctic and Amazonia. The
assessment, the first to tackle the subject on a worldwide level, examined 12m kilometres of rivers and found that just 90 of
the 246 rivers more than 1,000km (621 miles) long flowed without interruption. Click here to continue reading
European rivers are littered with barricades, but a movement grows to remove them National Geographic
In a four-year study spanning 36 European countries, scientists surveyed almost 1,700 miles of river by foot—and found at
least 1.2 million obstacles preventing European rivers from flowing freely. That’s more than one barrier for every mile of
river (or 0.74 barriers per kilometer).

103. Hydro-electric output dropped 14% in
2021 due to lack of moisture
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/renewables-not-so-reliable-us-hydropower-plunges-14

104. Hydrogen
Water for a Hydrogen Economy: an Alberta case study
How much water is required to produce hydrogen? How much water and hydrogen would be required to
replace 20% of the natural gas produced in Alberta? What is the cost of producing hydrogen? A report
was recently published by WaterSMART Solutions Ltd. that responds to these questions. The report
highlights the importance of water in the development of the hydrogen economy, and particularly begins
to consider the tradeoffs that will likely be required with existing water consuming sectors in the
province.
https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Fuel-Cells/Is-Green-Hydrogen-Being-Overhyped.html

105. Renewables

106. “All of life, including human life in all of its manifestations, runs principally on contemporary
sunlight that enters the top of our atmosphere at approximately 1.4 kilowatts per square
meter (5.04 MJ per square meter per hour). Roughly half that amount reaches the Earth’s
surface. This sunlight does the enormous amount of work that is necessary for all life. The
principal work that this sunlight does on the Earth’s surface is to evaporate water from that
surface (evaporation) or from plant tissues (transpiration) which in turn generates elevated
water that falls back on the Earth’s surface as rain, especially at higher elevations. The rain in
turn generates rivers, lakes, and estuaries and provides water that nurtures plants, animals,
and civilizations. Differential heating of the Earth’s surface generates winds that cycle the
evaporated water around the world, and sunlight of course maintains habitable temperatures
and is the basis for photosynthesis in both natural and human-dominated ecosystems. These
basic resources have barely changed since the evolution of humans (except for the impacts of
the ice ages) so that preindustrial humans were essentially dependent upon a constant
although limited resource base. Over time humans increased their ability to exploit larger
parts of that natural solar energy flow through technology, initially with spear points, knives,
and axes that could concentrate human muscular energy, and then with agriculture and dams,
and now with fossil fuels. The development of agriculture allowed the redirection of
photosynthetic energy captured on the land from the many diverse species in a natural
ecosystem to the few species of plants (called cultivars) that humans can and wish to eat, or
to the grazing animals that humans controlled. Curiously the massive increase in food
production per unit of land brought on by agriculture did not, over the long run, increase
average human nutrition but mostly just increased the numbers of people.”

107. What’s It Gonna Take?
• Producing one CMO of electricity from wind will require three million two-
megawatt wind turbines. These turbines would occupy 580,000 acres of
combined space.
• “On a percentage basis, renewables take the gold for growth recently with an
impressive rate of 13% per year since 2010. But from an absolute perspective the
news is more sobering: systems like wind, solar and biomass are not taking
market share away fast enough to make a difference to disconcerting metrics like
carbon intensity. Because coal and natural gas are also growing at a good clip, on
massively higher volumes, the share of renewables in the world’s energy diet
(currently 1.4%) is increasing by 0.1% per year. That means that unless something
changes, under current conditions it’s going to take 200-1,000 years to put the
fossil fuel industry to bed! Arc Financial July 2, 2013

109. https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/visualizing-copper-
demand-renewables-powered-future

110. Who knew and
when?!

115. • https://elements.visualcapitalist.com/mapped
-solar-and-wind-power-by-country/

118. Some basic energy costs:
 One metric ton of cement = 5.1 GJ
 One metric ton of glass = 5.3 GJ
 One metric ton of steel = 21.3 GJ
 One metric ton of aluminum = 64.9 GJ
 One MT of potassium fertilizer = 13.8 GJ
 One MT of phosphorus fertilizer = 17.5 GJ
 One MT of nitrogen fertilizer = 78.2 GJ
Source: R. L. Jaffe and W. Taylor Energy info card, Physics of energy 8.21,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

119. There is no green revolution without
natural gas derived nitrogen fertilizer

121. • Concentrated solar thermal technology provides zero-carbon steam
at a lower cost due to no fuel cost in sunny locations around the
world for enhanced oil and gas recovery.

122. Concentrated Solar Plant vs Solar PV farm
CSP PV Comment
Capacity - MW 100 100
Sunlight converstion (watts/square meter) 500 200 PV is 200 and solar thermal is 700
Solar collection Area 200,000 500,000
site collection area ratio 2 0.5 stacked csp vs spaced solar farm
Site Area required (m2) 100,000 1,000,000
Site area required (acres) 25 247
investment rate per watt 0.40 1.50
plant cost ($millions) 40 150
Solar PV Comparison

123. • Conventional greenhouse structures typically see heat loss double as
wind speed goes from 0 to 15 miles per hour

125. https://www.hydro.mb.ca/corporate/history
/mh_place_design_and_construction
Benchmark numbers for the greenest
buildings in Canada
Sprung Campus @ 474
kWh/m²/yr.
ARK Sprung
Greenhouse
@ 133 kWh/m²/yr.
This was before
concentrated solar,
etc. Entirely off grid
renewable is in our
grasp!

126. Permaculture Design For Our Future
That Or This
1. Gain of rooftop acreage with little transport required
2. Role of small business in decentralized production
3. Virtually free greenhouse cooling
4. Virtually free passive solar greenhouse heating
5. Composting for heating, nutrient reuse and biogas
6. Aquaponics to solve overfishing and reduce produce
fertilizer costs
7. Concentrated solar
8. Cogen to quadgeneration for energy efficiency
9. Algae greenhouse for new fast replenishment fuels
10. Only a fragment of what permaculture has to offer

127. That or This
No Alternative To Energy Efficiency

128. Leveraging
Energy
Efficiency for
Profit and
Environmental
Goals
https://youtu.be/
hJNFU7GkxXQ
• • The What’s and Why’s of Passive Solar
Heating & Cooling – Part 3A 0:00
• • Energy Efficiency Technology Layer
Options – Part 3B 23:56
• • Concentrated Solar Heating Boiler &
Chilling – Part 3C 27:52
• • ARK No Electricity Cooling – Part 3D 29:49
• • Agrihub Hydrogen to Diesel Engine Additive
for 10-25% Efficiency Gain – Part 3E 37:36
• • How and Why Cogeneration Boilers Work –
Part 3F 39:07