All figures copyright Vaclav Smil, except where indicated.
Figure 1 James Watt (copyright free)
Figure 2 James Prescott Joule (copyright free)
Figure 3 Energies and their conversions
Figure 4 The Earth’s radiation balance (based on NASA image)
Figure 5 The electromagnetic spectrum
Figure 6 Geotectonic plates
Figure 7 The C3/C2 cycle
Figure 8 Kleiber’s line (plotted from data in Kleiber, M. 1961. The Fire of Life)
Figure 9 Specific BMR
Figure 10 Relative share of BMR in adults (plotted from data in FAO. 1985. Energy and Protein Requirements)
Figure 11 The lifetime progression of specific BMR in men and boys (plotted from data in FAO. 1985. Energy and Protein Requirements)
Figure 12 Population densities of different modes of food provision
Figure 13 A Chinese ox (left) and a French horse (right) harnessed to pump water. Reproduced from Tian gong kai wu (1637) and L’Encyclopedie (1769–1772)
Figure 14 A nineteenth-century clipper (copyright free)
Figure 15 Late eighteenth-century French undershot wheel (reproduced from L’Encyclopedie)
Figure 16 Section through an eighteenth-century French windmill (reproduced from L’Encyclopedie)
Figure 17 A late nineteenth-century windmill on the U.S. Great Plains (reproduced from Wolff, A. R. 1900. The Windmill as Prime Mover)
Figure 18 Global coal, crude oil, and natural gas production, and electricity generation during the twentieth century (plotted from data in UN and BP statistics)
Figure 19 James Watt’s steam engine (left) and detail of separate condenser (right) (reproduced from Farey, J. 1827. A Treatise on Steam Engines)
Figure 20 Section through Parsons’s 1 MW steam turbine. Reproduced from the 1911 (eleventh) edition of Encyclopedia Britannica
Figure 21 The energy balance of a coal-fired electricity generating plant
Figure 22 World and U.S. wind generating capacity (plotted from statistics published in U.S. Energy Information Administration and by the World Wind Association)
Figure 23 Atmospheric CO2 concentrations (plotted from data available from the Carbon Dioxide Information and Analysis Center)
Figure 24 China’s dietary transition, 1980–2000 (plotted from data in various editions of China Statistical Yearbook)
Figure 25 Improvements of lamp efficacy, 1880-2000 (based on an image at http://americanhistory.si.edu/)
Figure 26 Tōkaidō line Nozomi train in Kyōtō station (photo Vaclav Smil)
Figure 27 Cutaway view of GE90 engine (image courtesy of General Electric)
Figure 28 Boeing 747-8I in Lufthansa service (reproduced from Wikimedia)
Figure 29 Where people need more energy: conditions in this Jakarta slum are replicated in scores of low-income countries (reproduced from Wikipedia)
Figure 30 Comparison of power densities of energy consumption and renewable energy production
Figure 31 Decarbonization of the world’s energy supply (calculated from data in UN and BP statistics)
Figure 32 Brazos wind farm in West Texas with 160 one-megawatt turbines (reproduced from Wikipedia)