Energy vs The Environment

The world demand for energy has been increasing by 2% per year, which may not sound like much but will add up to a 50% increase in the next 25 years.  Even with recessions.  The reason this increase is a big deal:  energy costs are going to go through the roof because (1) the supplies are limited and (2) the planet probably can’t deal with that much pollution.

And let’s face it:  practically all energy production causes pollution in some form.  Even hydro.  Even fuel cells.  Everyone’s all excited about fuel cells for the future — and they are exciting — but Wise UP!  A fuel cell doesn’t generate electricity – it’s more like a battery, and you have to fill the battery with hydrogen.  Where’s all the hydrogen going to come from?  From electrolysis…that requires electricity…that’s generated in a conventional power plant.

Everyone on the planet wants the lifestyle improvements that energy makes possible, but there just isn’t enough to go around.  So two things will happen:  the price will go up a lot, and many of the world’s 6.5 billion people won’t have access to much of it.

The only antidote is to waste a whole lot less energy, which Americans do more than anybody.  Unfortunately, some of the biggest energy wasters make our life a little nicer:  quartz-halogen lights, safe cars, air conditioners, long commutes, hair dryers.

The biggest economic challenge of our lifetimes is how to produce the energy we want without just burning more oil and coal.  This means doing a much better job at solar energy, nuclear, fuel cells, batteries, and energy recovery.  WiseUP:  there are no quick fixes other than the boring one — conservation.  The darling of the left (wind) will make no difference and is unreliable.  The darling of the right (drilling in the US) will take 10 years to produce and will only give us 5 years of breathing room.

Find out more…

• Outlook for World Energy Demand:  Nice quick summary

• When Oil Starts to Run Out:  Gas at $10 a gallon

What did we get wrong?