Everything You Need to Know About the Energy Flowcharts

Summary

Every year, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) unveils energy flowcharts, known as Sankey diagrams, showing the US's energy use, sources, and destinations. These diagrams have been a crucial tool since the mid-1970s, helping to clarify the complex web of energy consumption and efficiency in different sectors such as residential, industrial, and transportation. Notably, they illustrate the elusive concept of 'rejected energy' - energy lost in conversion - and underscore the importance of efficiency improvements. With current developments, LLNL is working on international comparisons and carbon dioxide flow charts to provide even greater insights.

Highlights

• Sankey diagrams show U.S. energy sources and usage patterns. 🔍
• Diagrams reveal efficiency via 'rejected energy'. 🔄
• Renewable energy use is increasing, while fossil fuel dependency decreases. 🌱
• New international energy flow charts are in development. 🌐
• Carbon dioxide flow charts are set to complement energy diagrams. 🏭

Key Takeaways

• LLNL's Sankey diagrams visually represent U.S. energy flow. 🔄
• They highlight 'rejected energy', emphasizing efficiency. 📉
• International energy flow comparisons are in progress. 🌍
• Upcoming diagrams will also track carbon dioxide emissions. 🏭
• State-specific flowcharts are being updated for local insights. 🗺️

Overview

Every year, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory releases fascinating energy flowcharts, unveiling the intricate paths U.S. energy takes from source to consumption. Known as Sankey diagrams, these visuals have evolved since their hand-drawn beginnings in the 1970s, becoming essential for scientists and policy-makers to navigate the complex landscape of energy management. 🗺️ Drawn from renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel sources, energy flows are meticulously tracked, giving insight into both use and efficiency.

One standout feature is the depiction of 'rejected energy' - the portion lost to inefficiency during energy conversion. With efficiency improvements being a hot topic, these charts stir curiosity and conversation about minimizing wasted energy. Innovations like aerodynamic cars and LED lighting are prime examples of how technological advances help reduce rejected energy. 🚗💡

Excitingly, LLNL is not just keeping the analysis local to the U.S.; they're expanding to include international energy flowcharts. By comparing and contrasting global energy uses, additional lessons and strategies for energy efficiency and sustainability emerge on a worldwide stage. Greenpeace scientists are eagerly anticipating the complementary carbon dioxide flowcharts, which promise deeper insights into global carbon footprints. 🌍

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:30: Introduction to Energy Flow Charts The chapter introduces energy flow charts released annually by Lawrence Livermore, illustrating the amount of energy used in the U.S., its sources, and destinations. Known as Sankey diagrams, these visuals provide insightful data in a streamlined format. The narrator shares an experience of speaking with energy experts who create these diagrams to understand the process better and address common questions from the audience.
• 01:30 - 03:00: Understanding the Structure of Flow Charts This chapter explains the structure and purpose of flow charts, focusing on Sankey diagrams. It discusses how these diagrams illustrate the sources, uses, and destiny of energy, as well as providing a rough indication of energy efficiency.
• 03:00 - 04:00: Explanation of 'Quad' and its Context The chapter titled 'Explanation of Quad and its Context' discusses the evolution and significance of 'Quad' diagrams since the mid-1970s. Initially, these diagrams were hand-drawn and have transformed into essential tools for scientists, analysts, and decision-makers. They help visualize complex relationships involved in managing and tracking important resources of the nation, illustrating the flow of energy from sources such as renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuels from left to right, showing their path from resource to disposition.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Electricity Generation and Energy Usage The chapter discusses the flow of energy resources and carriers within the energy system, as depicted in a diagram. It highlights how much of each resource is used in various parts, particularly noting that almost 12 quads of natural gas and just over 10 quads are used for electricity generation. The chapter briefly explains the term 'quad,' which is a quadrillion BTUs, in the context of the U.S. energy usage, which amounts to about 100 quadrillion BTUs annually.
• 05:00 - 06:30: Sector-Specific Breakdowns and Energy Services The chapter titled 'Sector-Specific Breakdowns and Energy Services' highlights the comparison of energy consumption using practical examples. It starts with an analogy comparing gasoline and electricity usage, mentioning that a gallon of gasoline equals about 120,000 BTUs, while a toaster uses 100 BTUs to toast a bagel in two minutes. The discussion then transitions to electricity generation as a central component of the energy system, emphasizing its role in converting diverse resources into a different type of energy carrier.
• 06:30 - 07:30: Rejected Energy and Thermodynamics The chapter discusses various applications of energy resources that require minimal processing from extraction to utilization. It further dissects energy usage across different sectors on the right-hand side of the diagram. Specifically, it differentiates the energy consumption patterns of residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation sectors, noting how houses and apartments differ from office buildings and restaurants. It also covers industry aspects such as manufacturing, agriculture, and construction within the industrial sector, while transportation is separately identified as a significant category.
• 07:30 - 09:00: Efficiency and Technological Innovations The chapter "Efficiency and Technological Innovations" discusses how energy is utilized across various vehicles and sectors, such as cars, trucks, planes, and ships. It focuses on breaking down energy usage into two primary categories: energy services and rejected energy. Energy services pertain to the actual demand for energy, such as turning on lights in a residential setting, which enhances our daily lives. These services vary across different sectors, demonstrating the broad scope of energy's role in the economy.
• 09:00 - 10:30: Analyzing Trends and Data Insights The chapter titled 'Analyzing Trends and Data Insights' discusses the concept of 'rejected energy', which refers to energy that is returned to the environment and is considered lost due to its low temperature, making it unavailable for use or lacking economic value. It highlights the inevitable energy loss to the environment that occurs whenever energy is transformed from one form to another. This is in line with the first law of thermodynamics, which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed.
• 10:30 - 12:30: Future Developments in Flow Charts The chapter discusses the second law of thermodynamics, highlighting how energy quality tends to degrade during use, such as in the case of a car engine where some energy is lost as heat. It addresses questions about the potential for reducing rejected energy, which is a common concern when analyzing flow charts.
• 12:30 - 14:00: Conclusion and Community Engagement The chapter discusses the importance of energy efficiency both on individual and larger scales. It highlights examples such as designing lighter, more aerodynamic cars that require less energy for operation, and improving home insulation to reduce the need for heating or cooling. It also mentions advancements in energy technology that can enhance the efficiency of energy transformations, with a particular reference to modern cars which are more energy-efficient than older models despite being larger and heavier.

Everything You Need to Know About the Energy Flowcharts Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Every year, Lawrence Livermore releases energy flow charts that illustrate how much energy the U.S. used that year, where it came from and where it went. These charts which are technically called Sankey diagrams give us so much valuable information in just one seemingly simple streamlined visual. I wanted to know more about how we put these together so I actually called up two of our energy experts behind the Sankey diagram while they're at home and I'm at home during this whole lockdown thing and asked them some of the most common questions we get from you guys about what these charts are
• 00:30 - 01:00 telling us. * upbeat science music * The flowcharts show us where our energy comes from how we use it and where it ends up and kind of roughly how efficient we are at putting that energy to use. We've been making the Sankey diagrams
• 01:00 - 01:30 since the mid-1970s. The first ones were actually hand drawn if you can believe it and in the years since they've become a valuable resource to help scientists, analysts and other decision-makers visualize the complex relationships that affect how we manage and track our nation's most important resources. On the left hand side are the resources renewable, nuclear, and fossil Energy flows from left to right as we track it from resource to disposition.
• 01:30 - 02:00 The line from the diagram show how much of each energy resource or carrier goes between different parts of the energy system. So for example almost 12 quads of natural gas are used to make electricity while you know just over 10 quads are used to make electricity. Um hold up what's a quad? So the United States uses about 100 quadrillion BTUs of energy in a year. A quadrillion is a
• 02:00 - 02:30 big number so think about it this way maybe. A gallon of gasoline has about 120,000 BTUs. Alternatively your toaster uses about 100 BTUs in the two minutes it takes to cook your bagel. Okay back to the flow charts. Electricity generation which is in the middle of the chart is a really important piece of the energy system where many different resources are transformed into a totally different type of energy carrier. Outside of electricity generation you can also see
• 02:30 - 03:00 that there's a bunch of areas where we use energy resources that have undergone minimal processing between you know how they were extracted and how they were used. The right-hand side of the diagram breaks down their energy use into residential, commercial, industrial and transportation sectors. So houses and apartment buildings use energy differently from office buildings and restaurants. You know manufacturing, agriculture and construction are all part of that industry box and transportation covers
• 03:00 - 03:30 our cars, trucks, planes and ships and then way over on the right-hand side we break down energy use into services. Those are the parts of the economy where energy use makes our lives better and rejected energy. Ok so energy services refer to the commodity that's actually used or demanded. So first that service that requires energy use and they're different based on the different sectors so like for example for the residential sector an energy service would be like when you turn on your lights in your home. and when we see that rejected
• 03:30 - 04:00 energy category what does that mean? Where does that come from? So the rejected energy is a energy that is returned back to the environment and it's lost due to its low temperature. It's unavailable for any use or it has no economic value at all and it's just released back into the environment. Whenever we transform energy from one form to another we lose some energy to the environment. The first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed
• 04:00 - 04:30 and the second law of thermodynamics says that whenever we play around with energy some of its quality gets degraded. So like when my car engine gets hot that's like some of my oil's energy being wasted back into the environment as a rejected energy. Exactly. That's pretty much one of the biggest questions that we get about the flow charts is like people really focus in on that rejected energy and people always wonder if there are ways that we can reduce that rejected energy you know?
• 04:30 - 05:00 On an individual level or on a larger level. What do you say to that? So if you make like a lighter more aerodynamic car you need less energy to give you the service, so you reject less energy in providing it. So another example might be doing a better job of insulating your house. You need less energy to heat or cool it. Better energy technology can make transformations of energy more efficient so today's cars even the ones that are bigger and heavier than the cars from
• 05:00 - 05:30 the 1970s get much better mileage because of better engine technology. Things like fuel injection and turbo charging and low friction materials or another example would be LED lights that provide us with better more controllable illumination than incandescent bulbs and they create a lot less heat in the process. And there are changes and trends that we can track thanks to the record of these flowcharts through the years. Like in 2018 for instance the flow charts helped us see that Americans used more energy
• 05:30 - 06:00 that year than in any other year and the prior record had been set in 2007. So this was a new peak. So we're seeing an increase in that energy being sourced from renewable sources like solar and wind and we're seeing a decrease in that energy being sourced from fossil fuels like coal but we're also seeing petroleum increase but that could change due to the increase in biomass also being used for like ethanol so we're kind of seeing a trade-off between you know an increase in the use of
• 06:00 - 06:30 renewable sources and fossil fuel sources going down. That's something that I love about these Sankey diagrams they show us where we are and then inspire us to ask questions about how we can get to where we want to be. Awesome people like Hannah and AJ take all of the data gathered by the to put these flowcharts together but the lab is actually looking to take this even further. We are currently working on international energy flow charts in order to be able to compare and contrast with the United
• 06:30 - 07:00 States and other countries to see where they get the majority of their energy source and what sectors it goes into. What happens with their energy. Do they have a high rejected energy and hopefully those will be released by the end of the year. We are currently working on releasing flowcharts similar to these for the carbon dioxide flow. That will show the source and also the sector and the end use of where it ends up. Those are on the Lawrence Livermore website
• 07:00 - 07:30 now but are backlogged to the year 2014. We're working on filling in that gap and producing out the newer ones for both the United States and at the state level. So if you're curious about your own state's particular usage you can check out our webpage with each state's flow chart here and the link is also in the description for this video and the most updated versions of the state-by-state flow charts are coming soon. What's your favorite thing about the Sankey diagram? Let us know in the comments and subscribe to this channel for more videos like this about field defining research coming out of the lab.
• 07:30 - 08:00 Follow us on all of our social media accounts for daily updates on our work and as always thank you so much for watching. I'll see you next time!