by Steve Clark, Founder of Citizens for Clean Energy 1989 (changed to the singular "Citizen" when no one seemed to care during the '90s), and still a renewable energy advocate in Boulder, Colorado
We as a species face some very real challenges. The environment is under stress from human activities. The main environmental problem, which some say will override all other issues, is global warming caused by carbon based energy. The many options being proposed to solve the CO2 problem are somewhat confusing and therefore it is unclear to most individuals what they should personally do. Many proposed solution are band aids and things which, while helpful, will only make things marginally less bad. It would be of greater benefit if we could just get to good rather than less bad. We can.
There are two options that will have a huge influence on our problems with CO2 in time to help avoid the possibly catastrophic consequences of climate change. They will end the need for using fossil fuels in transportation and electricity production. They are plug-in vehicles and renewable energy. There is a third thing that we should all be doing. That is being aware of our energy use. Using energy efficiently and conservatively and not wasting energy are a given as part of the solution, although by themselves they will only make things less bad. We need good energy.
Even if there were no environmental reasons to switch to renewable energy and plug-in vehicles they would still be beneficial. Plug-in electric vehicles are cheaper than gas vehicles because they use energy much more efficiently. Using local renewable energy for transportation also eliminates the supply chain problems of oil. Using renewable energy means there is no need to concern ourselves about the limited supplies of fossil fuels. And for those who still think that renewable energy cannot meet our huge appetite for energy, there is 15,000 times more renewable energy available every day than we use daily.
What can you do to help make this transition happen? The transportation solution is easy because it involves doing nothing. All you have to do is not purchase any new vehicles until there are plug-in options in the models which meet your needs. There are plenty of good used vehicles. Not buying new vehicles, that are going to obsolete soon anyway and therefore of little value, is smart and easy. In the mean time buy the least powerful and most efficient used vehicle you can. Slowing down and using less is always good. Speed kills and the supersize me More-Bigger-Faster syndrome is just not in your personal best interest.
Getting to a renewable energy electric system is not as easy. Fortunately we have both the technology to do this and we know the policy that will move us forward quickly. On renewable energy technology there is much good news. Wind power is a mature technology that can produce energy very affordably. Other options for renewable are developing and being implemented now. Solar thermal, geothermal and ocean energy are all available to provide the kinds of reliable steady 24 hour a day energy that big utilities are used to. There has also been a revolution in solar photovoltaics (PV).
NanoSolar has shipped the first order of their revolutionary new thin film PV material at 1/5th the cost of other PV. They can produce more per year from one facility than all other PV manufacturers in the
US. Solar is now a cheaper way to produce electricity than coal. It is very convenient that this is available just when we need it. Now comes the more challenging part. We are more addicted to electricity than oil. The big coal and nuclear power plants that all utilities use to keep us juiced up on electricity produce 600,000 megawatts of power. Renewable energy must be implemented very rapidly and at a huge scale in order to supplant the old dirty coal power system. The old guard will have to continue to provide reliable power while they are phased out. The policies that will make this happen are not politically feasible -- only because those in control of the present system don't want to change, and they are in control of policy.
In Germany there has been a revolution in policy. It is known as Feed-in Tariffs (FIT). FIT has made Germany, a country without the great solar and wind resources with which we are blessed, the world leader in renewable energy installations. FIT is a simple policy concept. Allow anyone, not just big central power plants, to put renewable energy into the electric system. Then give them the same long term price supports and subsidies that are paid to the big producers. Once everyone can make money making renewable energy just stand back and watch it happen.
Since this policy is a political nonstarter it will take the long awaited groundswell of public support in order to make it law. To find out more about FIT and what you can do go to onlinepact.org and worldfuturecouncil.org. The solution is within our reach but as the Lorax said:
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. -- The Lorax
