The wasted energy associated with electricity was 27.8 exajoules. With residential/commerical gas the wasted energy was 5.2 exajoules. There is alot of wasted energy associated with the production of electricity. Most of those losses go up the cooling tower at the power plant as entropy but some of it is also from transmission loses. Using electricity to heat your house or cook your food is wasteful. You should always use natural gas (if it is available) for heating and cooking. This chart also points out a basic problem with electric cars. Powering your car directly with natural gas is much more efficient than turning the natural gas into electricity at a power plant, transmitting it to your house and then storing it in a car's battery. In the context of resource conservation, pure electric cars do not make sense. If the problem of nuclear fusion could ever be cracked, this whole energy chart would be turned on it head. In theory because of its greater safety and cleaness, a nuclear fusion power plant could be in the middle of a city. The waste heat from the power plant could go directly into heating homes rather than up a cooling tower. Transmission loses would be minimal because the energy would be near the consumer. Too bad nuclear fusion is such a tough nut to crack.

Gary