Gradual Change Has Caused the Need for Energy Transformation

In order to understand how the problems of high energy consump­tion, and the consequent high levels of carbon dioxide emissions, have arisen, we need to understand how we have developed our hab­its and changed production systems. According to Richard Heinberg each person in the United States now uses the energy equivalent of 50 slaves.1 It could be argued, that there are a number of reasons for this, such as changed private habits, longer driving distances to work and the increased importation of foreign goods for consumption and production. It could be argued, however, that the one key reason for this, which explains why we need to travel longer distances to work and why we increasingly import the goods that we need from foreign countries, or supply them through long distance transportation in our own countries, goes back to the general direction of economic and business development during the last century.