The answer is not blowin’ in the wind, or is it?

Excerpt

Energy is one of the most important prime movers for our civilization. It is indispensable for continued development and growth of our civilization. Adequate ‘consumption’ of energy is one of most important prerequisites to address various aspects of human developments. Thermodynamics teaches us that ‘the energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be transformed from one form to another’. During this transformation process, we degrade its quality. In other words, we transform high quality energy to low quality energy—colloquially termed as energy ‘consumption’. Starting point of the energy transformation process is the primary energy, the form of energy that is directly available in nature (e.g. solar radiation, biomass, fossil fuels, etc.). In most cases, primary energy is transformed into a desirable and suitable form- secondary energy (e.g. electricity, gasoline, jet fuel, etc.). This is finally transformed to various energy services or end-use. …