Ok, here it is:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/totalenergy/data/annual/pdf/sec1_3.pdf
What it means is very simple, and yet profound:
This diagram shows us that for every unit of energy used by us in the enjoyment of our homes, appliances, entertainment, etc., about three units of "embodied energy" are needed to
make and distribute those items, before we even get a chance to enjoy
them.
➤ It
is not possible for us to even have "energy saving"
appliances, "smart" homes and "eco"vehicles without the prior existence of all those
energy-hungry, pollution-emitting factories, power plants, and mines (all run by greedy capitalists, of course). So who is keeping those evil Fossil Fuel Industries in business, anyway? Hmmm... consumers, maybe?
We must stop thinking in terms of personal energy use or carbon footprint, and start thinking in terms of our total energy responsibility.
➤ Our total energy responsibility is several times greater than we have been led to believe, so using a "carbon footprint" calculator to figure our "environmental impact" is like trying to estimate the mass of an elephant by weighing the tip of its tail. If we dare include the embodied energy of imported goods, our global energy responsibility is even higher.
➤ Even if our car seems to be large part of our "carbon footprint" it is really just a small slice of the transportation energy "head" of the monster. So does it really even matter what kind of car we drive?
If every single household in America pulled their electric meter, shut off the gas, parked their car, and sat quietly in the dark...our total
energy use would only drop about 25 percent.
So what is the lesson here? Simply that our "personal energy use" (called consumer end-use energy) is really the smallest slice of our total energy use. And every time we purchase one of those
new "energy efficient" products, the entire
global super factory kicks into overtime, and
burns several times more energy than we could ever hope to
save, because:
Electric cars need roads too. And bridges, and trucks and trains and ships and factories and power plants and everything else in the entire global industrial economy, which only exists because fossil fuels made it possible.
So it would appear that in our perpetual pursuit of a "higher standard of living" we are making the entire world into a place that is unsuitable for life, for every living thing on the planet. And in our foolish pursuit of fake "clean, green energy", we are only making all the real problems much worse.
The irony is staggering.
"We have met the enemy, and he is us"
- Pogo the Possum (As told to us by Walt Kelly)