Our ability to meet the world's energy needs without destroying the planet on which we live is examined. When the number of human beings was small and energy needs were limited to cooking and heating, energy could be exploited without serious disruption to the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere. Now amplified by a growing population, energy use has become a potentially destructive force, locally because emissions contaminate air, water, and soil and globally because there is a possibility that energy use may enhance the greenhouse effect. We face a dilemma: properly used, energy technologies serve as instruments for realizing material well-being across the planet, but continuation of current trends could lead to a degraded environment, yielding a mean and uncertain existence.
