Anil Varanasi

Energy Usage

There are no low energy, rich countries. It is one of the clearest predictors of growth and future prosperity. Electricity consumption vs GDP per capita

Energy is important for most advancements, productivity growth, and impact on the climate. Yet, the research expenditure is quite negligible. Across the top 25 usage sectors, there is a lot of research left to be done for techniques, processes, and fundamental breakthroughs. R&D by Function

Rank   Sector Usage Processes/Techniques
1 Petroleum Refining 4.8% Distillation, catalytic cracking, hydrocracking, catalytic reforming, alkylation
2 Chemical and Petrochemical 3.2% Haber-Bosch process, steam cracking, catalytic reforming, methanol synthesis, polymerization
3 Iron and Steel Production 3.0% Blast furnace, basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS), electric arc furnace (EAF), continuous casting, hot rolling
4 Residential Energy Consumption 2.5% Heating, cooling, lighting, appliances, electronics
5 Cement Production 2.0% Calcination in rotary kilns, preheater and precalciner technology
6 Pulp and Paper 1.5% Kraft pulping, mechanical pulping, bleaching, pressing, drying
7 Commercial Buildings 1.2% Heating, cooling, lighting, running equipment
8 Aluminum Production 1.0% Hall-Héroult process for electrolytic reduction of alumina
9 Bitcoin Mining 0.6% Proof-of-work algorithm, ASIC mining, data center operations
10 Food and Beverage 0.6% Pasteurization, sterilization, drying, freezing, fermentation, cooking, cooling, packaging
11 Non-ferrous Metals Production 0.5% Pyrometallurgy (smelting), hydrometallurgy (leaching), electrorefining
12 AI and Machine Learning 0.5% Training large-scale models, data center operations, high-performance computing
13 Textiles 0.4% Spinning, weaving, dyeing, finishing, washing, heat-setting
14 Data Centers 0.4% Server farms, cloud computing, storage systems, cooling systems
15 Mining and Quarrying 0.4% Drilling, blasting, loading, hauling, crushing, grinding
16 Transport Equipment Manufacturing 0.3% Metal stamping, welding, painting, assembly, machining, heat treatment, coating
17 Telecommunications 0.3% Network operations, data transmission, mobile networks, ISPs
18 Machinery Manufacturing 0.3% Casting, forging, machining, assembling, welding, heat treatment, surface finishing
19 Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing 0.2% Chemical synthesis, fermentation, extraction, purification, heating, cooling, drying
20 Construction Materials Production 0.2% Mixing and curing of concrete, baking of bricks, manufacturing of insulation materials, kilns, autoclaves
21 Rubber and Plastics 0.2% Polymerization, vulcanization, extrusion, injection molding
22 Cloud Computing Services 0.2% SaaS, IaaS, PaaS, large-scale data processing, storage
23 Agriculture 0.2% Irrigation, machinery operation, processing of agricultural products
24 Electronics Manufacturing 0.1% Semiconductor fabrication, PCB assembly, soldering, testing
25 Water Supply and Treatment 0.1% Pumping, treating, distributing water, wastewater treatment
26 Leather and Footwear 0.1% Tanning, dyeing, cutting, sewing
27 Wood and Wood Products 0.1% Sawing, drying, laminating, veneering
28 Furniture Manufacturing 0.1% Cutting, assembling, finishing, upholstery
Total Energy Usage 25.4%

Please email any other relevant suggestions; particularly the counterarguments.