MUNI
FSS
Energy and Its Footprint in the US Culture and Way of Life
Martin Jirusek, PhD.
1
SIEVEN SEAGAL
/
CHRFILTOn MESICm     LQQH THyLDR-fDUTIQ
SOYLENT GBEEN    A™ '
The New Car Market
- Rapid motorization after WW I
- 1907: 1,65 car/1000 citizens
- 1913: 12,9 cars/1000 citizens
- 1929: 219 cars/1000 citizens
- 1955: 377 cars/1000 citizens
- 2017: 800 cars/1000 citizens (Europe: 580/1000, China: 128/1000, Bangladesh: 3/1000)
- Transport sector's consumption growth at the expense of kerosene (lamp oil - basis of the Standard Oil's success story)
America's Love Affair with Automobile
- Current state: 1,2 vehicles/1 license holder
- 800 cars/1000 citizens
- American culture, way of life as well as energy demands largely driven by living conditions
- Largest manufacturing industry
- Among the biggest employers Rust Beit
- Senisitve political issue (e.g. Trump's tariff war with Europe)
- Subject to technological changes
- Litmus test of the economic output
Source: Lyman Stone
The Tin Lizzie' and the New Car Market
- Post WWI period
- Car industry spurred by the war
- Internal combustion engine revolutionized transport
- Cars, planes
- Individualization/emancipation of transport
- Expansive at the outset, economy of scale
- Ford T
- Mass production (assembly line) - head-start comp. to Europe
- Priced so that the average American could buy it
- The car that' put America on wheels'
- Another nail in the coffin of mass public transport
Post WWII Boom - Cars
Post WWII economic boom
Cars as a sign of wealth and modern life
- Returning soldiers longing for cars they saw and used during the war
- Moto gangs ('Rebel Without a Cause')
- Opulent styling as an expression of post-war joy and hope and economic prosperity
- Car was no more just a way of transport, rather an expression of a lifestyle
Car sales surged
- 65 bn. USD in 1955 alone - 20% of US GNP
Cars became part of the pop culture Growing demand for oil; determining factor for for oil crises
Post WWII Boom - Energy Consumption
Economic growth, rising living standards and consumerism 1950s - 1960s as an era of unprecedented prosperity ('boomers') Growing demand for home appliances
- TVs, radios, fridges, electric appliances, etc.
- Growing electricity demand
Factor in expansion of power generation (nuclear power in 1960s & 1970s)
- Atoms for Peace
1960s as an era of trust in technological development
- nuclear energy, space explorations,...
- TV series and movies
Nuclear Energy in American Culture
- Revered as a pathway to energy-sustainable future, feared, demonized,...
- Fears of Nuclear War and Global Catastrophe (Planet of The Apes, Terminator,...)
- Part of the Cold War narrative
- Shelter building in 1960s
- Stifled by TMI Incident, Chernobyl
Motorisation of America, Reinventing of Public Transport and Way of Life
- Carmaker's push into public transport
- City transit systems privately owned; went bankrupt
- Governmental support limited
- Need for intra- and inter- city transport
- Early mass motorization aligned with urbanization - cities adjusted to cars from the beginning
- Tautological effect (more cars - cities adjusted to cars - more cars)
- Sprawling suburbs
- National Interstate Highway System (transportation but also defense purposes, max. throughput) - 1956
- Large interstate highways cut through urban areas, creating the need for car-based transportation
- Services getting accustomed to higher motorization
MUNI
Motorisation of America, Reinventing of Public Transport and Way of Life
- Low taxation (X Europe)
- Cars and related taxes not the only source of financing for infrastructure
- Parts of the tax revenues designated to funding infrastructure (contributing to the tautological effect)
- Higher share of crude price component causes higher crude price-induced volatility
- Higher accessibility of remote areas spurring residential development (even far from traditional urban centers) and, in turn, require better road connections (tautological logic again)
- city planning - 'centerless' cities stretched wide or large stretches of urbanized areas (e.g. LA) - conurbation or megalopolis (East coast)
- 'suburb' as an obsolete term
- access to public transport as a less common asset, public transport effectively eliminated in some areas
- 'Patches' of single-purpose areas linked with highways cutting across neighborhoods or beltways
- Prone to degradation and isolation
11
MUNI
FSS
Motorisation of America, Reinventing of Public Transport and Way of Life
Matlock Expressway
š
12
(jaitnersDurg
North
Potomac Rockville Travilah
'es Islan
otomac
Laurel
Fairland South Laure|
Glenmont Calverton
Wheaton . .„
Beltsville
Gr.->enbelt
Glenn Dale
don eston
Wolf Trap ^Lean
" Tysons
Idylwood
Wt st Falls
ir °a*s , Church Fairfax
Kings ParkAn landale
Silver Spring
/   \ College Park Chillum
Sev Odenti
Crol
West Burke
Springfield
\_ landovei
Washington Mitchellville '^D.G. / Kettering
GJassmanpr Westphalia A'exariuslf'^   Camp Springs
Bowie
Groveton] Hybla Valley
Clinton
Rosaryville
Fort Washington
Individualism and Consumerism
- Ca. 40% of US households own 2 cars, ca. 20% of US households own 3 cars
City designs support such behaviour
In turn, owning a car belongs to 'basic' expenses of average American 2nd biggest item of expenditure after housing
- 85% daily trips done by car, majority of trips <1 mile
- 11th in energy consumption per capita (6800 kg of oil equivalent)
- Shared economy seems to strengthen the trend - Uber, Lyft
aalthough oil use per capita may decrease further weakening of public mass transport
carsharing as a solution with low initial costs, usprassing implementation of state/govt. policies
MUNI
Oil Crises
- Impactful due to higher share of crude price component in the fuel price
- Shock for the US and global economy, manufacturing industry, carmakers in particular
- Broad ramifications
- Immeddiate saving measures
- Fuel for cars with odd/even number plates
- Systemic changes
- Smaller cars, efficient measures (CAFE standards), (national!) speed limit, energy savings and efficiency as the new political 'mantra'
- Influx of imported (smaller, efficient) cars from Japan, Germany
- Basis for even bigger expansion in following years
- Japan's car exports boosted (1500% increase between 1965-1975)
15
MUNI
FSS
Environmental Issues
- First signs of reflection started to appear in early 1970s
- Mainly in relation to fears of over-population, starvation or general depletion of planetary resources
Later reflections focused on consequences of depletion
- 1990s generally marked a period of higher environmental concerns in US politics (although not properly addressed by respective policies)
- Not a real concern for a broader public (general availability of sources - oil)
- Big cars, low oil prices, non-existence of the fear of the world running out of oil
Ift the year 2022...
7} I
Th*yi do of>i**ig to 0«i <***of Thv r>**d
17
1980s - 1990s
- SUV sales surge - era of cheap oil, globalization
- Ford F series - the best selling car for 42 years
- SUV/light trucks as the core of the Big Three's production portfolio
- SUVs classified as light trucks (i.e. milder fuel economy standards)
- Higher profit margins
- One of the reasons of higher energy intensity in transportation American way of life as a hostage to foreign suppliers?
- CAFE Standards (since 1975) heavily critized
- 'death by the gallon'
- Cheaper cars and fuel relative to salaries (+lower taxation + high relative GDP per capita)
MUNI
Unconventionals
- Spurred discussions over supply security and energy independence (delusional)
- Redirected supply patterns and tuned-down concerns of supply dependency
- Revived energy supplies as a part of the US foreign policy toolbox towards Europe
- Later, concerns on overall emissions prevailed over the optimism
- Fracking is not the main issue anymore; unconventionals became part of the general emission-related narrative
- Gasland
20
MUNI
FSS
'A MASTER!
("WINNER
ccrMTtUTJMM
"SENSATIONAL... A piece of beautiful cinema...Rough-hewn and poetic." "
'-Robert Koehler. Variety
"MESMERIZING... Warmhearted... Darkly humorous."
•Hlift Stievtr WiiNngtM Post
DON T
frack
Kewyorkj
/VOLCANIC...
'With humor and inquisitiveness, Fox has delivered 2010's most alarming wake-up call."
Our c
u 1
A FILM »V JOSH rot
3