One of the major drags on the American economy is our thirst for energy. A lot of which comes from foreign sources. This contributes a large percentage of our trade deficit and pours billions of dollars into countries who are not our friends. It is not only an economic drag but a security issue as many of those dollars end up in the hands of those who would do us harm. So the issue of reaching energy independence is vital to our country.
We cannot reach it by drilling more oil wells or mining more coal as those have serious risks to our environment both in production and use. We must harness resources that are non-polluting, either renewable or sustainable, and economically viable. There are many options that meet those requirements. The reason we haven’t implemented them is that most of them cost more than conventional energy production or have unintended consequences.
An example of unintended consequences is electric cars. On the surface they seem non-polluting and don’t consume imported energy (i.e. oil). However the electricity has to come from somewhere and in this country it is mostly provided by coal fired plants who have minimal spare capacity. A huge surge in electric cars would bring down the grid in short order. Furthermore, is switching our cars to run on coal really the way to go? Additionally, many of the critical raw materials for the batteries come from foreign sources. Admittedly not as bad a problem as oil but still an issue.
So we need a coordinated approach to solving these issues. Since no single corporation or even a consortium can cover all the bases and there needs to be an initial investment to get it started we will have to look to the government to organize and jump start this initiative. Tax incentives, funding for basic research, and large government purchases of the final product are all needed. This initial investment will eventually lead to creation of many real jobs that last long after the government funding goes away as well as a huge boost to the economy and a new sense of national purpose and pride.
Of all the technologies for energy independence that there are, solar cells and wind turbines seem to be the closest to being viable. Wind turbines have their place, but will always suffer from high cost and maintenance issues. They are mechanical assemblies and cost reductions are harder to achieve. Additionally they do require lots of land and have environmental impacts.
Solar cells are likely the most viable short term solution. They and the associated electronics needed to couple them to the grid are for the most part subject to the drastic volume production cost reductions that we have seen in most electronic assemblies. But where do we put them? Huge solar farms that blot up thousands of acres of land..no way. Put them where they are close to the consumers of the energy, on our rooftops. A program where utility companies lease the “Sunspace” on your roof in exchange for free electricity. They re-roof your house in solar cells and you get a huge cut in your utility bills. Hey you can even have energy to charge that electric car. Furthermore, such distributed production will make it much harder for a terrorist, equipment failure, or a stupid mistake to black out a large section of the country by shutting down a critical power plant.
Solar won’t supply all our energy. There are parts of the country where it isn’t viable due to cloud cover and demand outstripping roof area as in big cities. Hybrid cars burn some gas, although much less than regular cars. It’s unlikely that electric 18 wheelers will be viable either (but hybrids seem to be worthwhile to investigate). So we will need oil and conventional power plants for the foreseeable future. However, biofuels, geothermal, water power, wind farms, and even nuclear energy can take up much of that slack. Natural gas (which we have lots of and is cleaner than coal) can power electric plants and even trucks and trains under some circumstances. One thing to remember is that we only have to cut our oil use by 40% to be energy independent.
Of course the devil is in the details, we have to develop domestic sources for those materials we need to make all those electric car batteries and the solar cells. We need to restart the US manufacturing industry. An important thing we must do is insure that the design and production of all this stuff stays in the US. No farming out the engineering to India, or spending all the incentives to buy stuff from China. The goal is to create jobs and boost our economy as well as gain energy independence.
All this sounds complex, but it is a lot closer to reality than putting a man on the moon was in 1959. We are still reaping the benefits of that program in the form of personal computers, lasers, etc. In short it would be a sustained economic boost to the country. The seed money the government puts in will return many times over, and the security and well being of our country will be greatly enhanced.
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