It seems there’s a general consensus on the need to depart from our dependence on foreign oil. But what about our dependence on all fossil fuels, regardless of where they comes from?
Here in the US, almost 49% of our electricity comes from coal, and globally, somewhere between 80% and 90% of all energy comes from burning hydrocarbons, whether that’s oil, coal, gas, or, in some cases, just slashing and burning plants for heat, cooking, etc.
Perhaps, a more interesting question is not where are we now, but where we are going.
Latest Photo Voltaic and wind power advances are bringing costs down. And this has triggered a bit of a race among major countries to see who can cut greenhouse gas emissions first and the most. Even if it is for the purposes of turning the first dollar on their efforts, it will result in a benefit to our environment. The U.S. may soon become crippled in participating in this race due to the new majority in the U.S. Senate that has aggressively begun to block all actions that would mitigate global climate change.
It seems that as long as we have an uninterrupted flow of fossil fuels there is no pressure to invest in renewable energy. This is a very short-sighted view to take. What we need to do in order to overcome the thinking that fossil fuels is a bottomless well, is to determine exactly how much is left. Oil industry officials know the supply is not endless, yet they will continue to accept the easy money coming their way for continued exploration.
Politicians are obviously unconvinced that the damage done to our environment is short term enough that it is of no consequence. There are increased healthcare costs, increasing environmental cleanup costs, and there will be hidden costs in the loss of species. If we could get all of these figures into a financial spreadsheet that all politicians could understand surely they would see that renewable energy is the correct investment and the time is now.
If the world continues developing renewable energy production, the incremental cost of a megawatt of electricity from wind will cost less than the equivalent from coal. If the U.S. stifles its research and development of wind energy we will then become dependent on buying equipment from foreign countries. And we will be in the same situation of depending on foreign countries as we now find ourselves with fossil fuels. In my opinion, our leaders are being penny wise and dollar foolish. Of course, the general trend is that the world is becoming one marketplace and one community of consumers. Perhaps, this is America’s way of balancing the books on the debt we owe developing countries for the damage we have done from our industrial pollution. Instead of asking them to help pay for the cleanup, we allow them to own the renewable energy market.
Renewable energy will happen, its just a matter of when. Huge fortunes will be made. The benefit of continuing research into these fields is clear.
Politicians need to put aside any debate on whether global climate change is real. This is their chance to make up to the American worker for their part in allowing American manufacturing to relocate overseas.
What do you say Congress? How about helping out the working stiff for a change?
Greg W
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