This case study stresses the need to broadly consider an entire system, including all of the energy inputs and outputs involved, to determine the real efficiency of that system. It also asks its student audience to consider the role that scientific input plays in policy decision-making processes. It emphasizes that, despite the importance of this…

Uneven economic growth, rapid population increases, and high costs of fossil fuels have caused much of the human race to experience an energy crisis. For the world's poor people the energy requirements consist mainly of firewood. This crisis will be aggravated further as population trends begin to overwhelm natural resources. Future demands for…

Observes that little energy education work has been done since the early 1980s. Recommends teaching about (1) the coming transition from petroleum to other energy sources; (2) the time and policy decisions involved in the transition; (3) the need to avoid reliance upon a single, simple solution to energy problems; and (4) the link between energy…