Sven always forwards me things he thinks might interest me or help me do my job at Niijii Films, but above all we keep each other informed of the latest cycling news. He was the first one to congratulate me on Alberto Contador winning his third Tour de France. Three weeks ago he innocently emailed me a pdf telling me that it was “for those long sleepless nights when you are feeling intellectually starved”. It was a document titled Searching for a Miracle, written by Richard Heinberg.
As I almost always do, I followed Sven’s recommendation and opened it the other night. I began scrolling down the pages, casually looking here and there. It is an interesting text, I think you should click on the link and take a look yourself. I just want to mention one of the tables I saw, Table 4, which lists the energy use in different countries in 2006. The per capita use is in million Btu and the total country use in quadrillion Btu.
Here are a few sample countries:
COUNTRY Per Capita Total
Brazil 51.2 9.635
Canada 427.2 13.95
China 56.2 73.8
Denmark 161.3 .879
France 180.7 11.445
Germany 177.5 14.62
Iceland 568.6 .17
Italy 138.7 8.06
Japan 178.7 22.78
Mexico 68.5 7.35
Nigeria 7.8 1.02
Norway 410.8 1.89
Qatar 1,023.3 .9
Russia 213.9 30.38
Spain 161.2 6.51
UK 161.7 9.8
USA 334.6 99.856
I could mention how surprised I am to read Canada’s numbers (or Norway’s, Sven), I could point out how similar they are across most European countries, but today I just feel like saying one thing: what the hell is going on in Qatar!?
