California Uses More Gasoline than Any Country in the World

California has a reputation for being one of the greenest states in America, environmentally speaking. We hear so much about their progressive laws and programs, and how people there are on the frontlines of the fight against global warming. And yet, somehow, they manage to be huge resource hoggers. California alone uses more gasoline than any country in the world (aside from the US as a whole).  Even China.

From Wired:

That’s according to the California Energy Commission’s State Alternative Fuels Plan, which was posted online last Christmas Eve (pdf). The whole report makes for some fascinating reading because it’s a blueprint for a low-carbon and renewable transportation fuel future. The dominant takeaway: it ain’t going to be easy.

One more choice statistic: gasoline usage in California has increased 50 percent, that’s 10 6.7 billion gallons, since 1988. Has there been anything close to a commensurate increase in quality of life here to accompany that rise in energy use?

Of course, China will quickly catch up and their consumption rate will far exceed California’s – and it won’t be too long before that happens. Still, though – that’s a lot of gas, even for a large populous state.

If you’re a Californian, what’s your take on this? Poor public transportation, too many people on the road, and lots or sprawl?

Link [Wired]
Photo credit: Flickr user respres

Inventor of Virtual Water Honored by Stockholm International Water Institute, Wins 150 Large

Anthony Allan, a professor at King’s College in London, was recently honored by the Stockholm International Water Institute for his contributions to water research (the honor is no joke: they gave him $150,000). He was recognized for inventing the concept of “virtual water” back in 1993. This concept has revolutionized the way people think about water consumption and it’s worth pausing on this occasion to give it some attention.

Basically, virtual water refers to the water required to produce a commodity. A famous example is a cup of coffee; the process of making that single cup actually requires 140 liters of water (about 37 gallons) to grow and ship the beans. A single hamburger requires 2,400 liters, a beer about 75 liters, and wheat takes 1,300 liters to make 2.2 pounds.

Allan explained, “The water is said to be virtual because once the wheat is grown, the real water used to grow it is no longer actually contained in the wheat. The concept of virtual water helps us realize how much water is needed to produce different goods and services. In semi-arid and arid areas, knowing the virtual water value of a good or service can be useful towards determining how best to use the scarce water available.”

The term “virtual water”–just the term–has always sounded wrong to me, like the water in a video game (Rollercoaster Tycoon, maybe). The water that the term refers to is real enough; it’s simply not physically there with the final commodity. It is sometimes, therefore, called “hidden water” or “embedded water.” But that’s just a problem with the term. The concept itself is essential.

Link [The Raw Story]

Photo Credit: Flickr User Laszlo