Additional Details

Description

Societies in the 21st century require enormous amounts of energy to drive the machines of commerce and to sustain the lifestyles that many people have come to expect. Today, most of this energy is derived from oil, natural gas, and coal, supplemented by nuclear power. Local exceptions exist, but oil is by far the most common source of energy worldwide. Oil resources, however, are nonrenewable and concentrated in only a few places around the globe, creating uncertainty in long-term supply for many nations. At the time of the Middle East oil embargo of the 1970s, about a third of the United States oil supply was imported, mostly from that region. An interruption in the flow of this import disrupted nearly every citizen#s daily life, as well as the Nation#s economy. In response, the Federal Government launched substantial programs to accelerate development of means to increasingly harness #alternative energies##primarily biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind. The new emphasis on simultaneously pursuing development of several sources of energy recognized the timeless wisdom found in the proverb of #not putting all eggs in one basket.# This book helps explain the role that geothermal resources can play in helping promote such diversity and in satisfying our Nation#s vast energy needs as we enter a new millennium. Available online at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2004/c1249/

Survey Date

2003

Print Date

2003