Reason Magazine - Brother, Can You Spare 22 Terawatts?

An interesting article on how daunting it may be to meet the energy demands of a fully developed world. I think the analysis is good, but flawed in assuming no improvements to efficiency or other technologies.

Nocera calculates that if 9 billion people in 2050 used energy at the rate that Americans do today that the world would have to generate 102.2 TW of power—more than seven times current production. If people adopted the energy lifestyle of Western Europe, power production would need to rise to 45.5 terawatts.

Reason Magazine - Brother, Can You Spare 22 Terawatts?