historical context, the scientific unit of energy is one joule, and affluent economies now consume annually about 150 billion joules (150 gigajoules) of primary energy per capita (for comparison, one ton of crude oil is 42 gigajoules); while Nigeria, Africa’s most populous (and oil- and natural gas–rich) nation, averages only 35 gigajoules. The difference is impressive, with France or Japan using nearly five times as much energy per capita, but the historical comparison illuminates the real size of the gap: Japan used that much energy by 1958 (an African lifetime ago), and France averaged 35
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