I sometimes picture God up there in heaven, looking down on us, complaining to any angel that happens to fly by saying, "I give them wind, the sun, tidal waves, and geothermal and they still insist on using the stuff that I specially placed deep underground for their energy. Geez, what else do I need to do?"
That's how I see it, God placed all the oil and coal underground because he didn't want us to use it, just like we place poison on a high counter top so our kids can't get to it.
I sometimes wonder what the world would be like if the companies that run the world had, when they first started, put their money and power toward the renewable energy resources we have on the planet. Imagine if, 100 years ago, Henry Ford thought, "I wonder if I could get this car to run on water instead of gas?" What if Thomas Edison thought, "Hey, I bet we can set up some wind mills to power this new light bulb thing I invented."
During the turn of the last century coal, gas, and oil were the best way to create the power that was needed and we never thought we'd need another way. It seemed limitless and abundant but now we know better so, shouldn't we be working harder to figure out how to use the sun to power our cars? How to use the tides or geothermal energy to power cities? The oil and coal we dig up won't last so wouldn't it be smart to look elsewhere?
I know we're trying and I think we've got a good start with hybrid and electric cars but really, that's just a small start. We're decades behind where we should be at this point in history. I've heard that the oil, coal and natural gas left could last us for another 100 years. I've also heard that we've reach the peak and we'll start to run out by 2020. I'm kind of hoping that it's 100 years because I'd like to believe by 2111 almost everything will be run on renewable energy.
I sometimes wish we had continued the research started in the 1970's during the energy crises. That really should have jump started the move from oil to other forms of energy but, thanks to some very smart oil people, it didn't. The companies that owned the oil fields saw what was happening here and decided to increase production of oil, lowering the price, making the government wonder why they should pump billions of dollars into renewable energy when we had plenty of cheap energy coming into the country. Look how well that turned out. It seems we're paying the piper now and it'll only get worst.
I remember when gas cost a dollar a gallon, that's when I first started to drive about 10 years ago. Now, 5 bucks a gallon doesn't seem that crazy at the rate gas keeps going up. We almost reached that a few years ago and we've come close a few times since then. I guess nothing jump starts a need for new energy sources like money.
Energy creation has always been hard on the planet and on us. When all we could burn was wood it caused entire cities to burn to the ground. Once we found other means it made some people insanely rich, and made some countries insane. I do often wonder if the Middle East didn't have so much oil would it nearly as important? I don't recall my history perfectly but I know that area has always been important for trade routes and spices and stuff but without oil would we really even care? I see that area as being just another Africa. You see, there are a lot of bad dictators in Africa but we really don't seem to care since those countries can't provide us with anything we really need If Libya didn't have oil riches would we really be bombing them? Well, maybe but I doubt it. Energy, the ability to have electricity so we can watch our TV's and gas so we can drive to the bar, that's what it's all about.
We need energy, we need it to run our lives. Energy creation provides billions of dollars to our economy in jobs, labor and taxes. How many people does it take to bring one gallon of gas to our country? What would happen if that just went away. I'm all for renewable energy but there does seem to be a dark side to it too. What would happen to our social and economic structure if, all of a sudden, everyone had a solar panel and windmill on their roofs providing energy for their homes and electric cars?
I see a future where power plants are located on the coasts; I figured that's the best way to get three out of the four major renewable energy sources easily. Wind, sun and tidal power. If you happen to be here a hot spot all the better, you can have all four! The power companies will still charge you for the service, only it would be simply to help upkeep the equipment. Would that make it cheaper? Probably but would they charge you less? Probably not. No company wants to drop prices if it they can avoid it, that includes the power plants.
I also see a future where gas stations are a thing of the past and instead you'll have charging posts along all the highways. Imagine that every few miles you see a charging station, which I see a simple pole with a solar panel and maybe a small windmill, high in the sky absorbing light and wind. You pay whatever they'll charge (would it be by the kilowatt or a flat rate? Not sure yet) it charges your car in less than a minute and you're off again. Hopefully the batteries in the future can charge the quickly.
I also see that the battery will be small enough to take out of your car and plugged into your home outlet to charge overnight. I've read stories on how people are experimenting with all kinds of ways to produce electricity, from photosensitive paint to cloths that, when you move, generate a current. Than would be really cool for your iPod, just plug it into your shirt and start walking!
But to get there we need to start now. My vision is at least 100 years away, I'll probably be dead but I would die happy if I knew we were heading there. It's going to take a huge reconstruction of our power system to get to that point and we need to start now, not tomorrow, but now.
