Big Ideas Lab Energy Flow Charts
Dec 2, 2025
Hannah Goldstein, a system and policy analysis group leader at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Kimberly Mayfield, a research scientist, dive into the significance of energy flow charts. They explore how these diagrams visualize sources and wasted energy, emphasizing lessons from the 1970s oil shocks. The discussion highlights insights from the pandemic's impact on energy usage and innovative collaborations like Hawaii's live energy flow dashboard. They also touch on future scenarios, including how these tools can guide energy policy and investment decisions.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Origin Of The Flow Charts
- LLNL created the first U.S. energy flow charts in the 1970s to make national energy use visible and actionable.
- The charts distill complex data into readable Sankey diagrams showing sources, uses, and losses.
Most Energy Is Rejected
- Sankey diagrams visualize energy streams from sources to uses, highlighting where energy is lost as rejected heat or noise.
- Lawrence Livermore's charts show about two-thirds of generated energy is rejected, revealing large efficiency losses.
Pandemic's Energy Dip And Rebound
- The pandemic caused a deep nosedive in U.S. energy use visible on the charts in 2020 and a sharp rebound by 2022.
- Hannah Goldstein describes watching demand fall during lockdowns and then roar back up in 2022.