AltEnToday

Just wanted to share the milestone! It’s amazing how much material and information, and frankly - debate! - exists in the field of alternative energy. Between the various sources of energy (sunlight, wind power, tidal power, earth power (geothermal), etc.) there exist numerous pro- and con- arguments, not to mention exciting innovations that seem to be just around the corner.

Upon reflection of the last month, here’s a few of the things I’ve decided…

The solution to our energy problems will not be determined by one golden bullet. Oil will not be easily or quickly replaced. Its impact on mankind over the last century is one of the pivotal stories of our species’ history. It’s provided us so much - agriculture, transportation, heat, electricity, plastics, industry, you name it! But the twilight in the desert will not be a soft transition from one energy staple to another. Instead, our future energy scheme will be broken up even further in to dozens if not hundreds of methods and industries that will combine to meet market demand.

There’s intrinsic differences in the types of power used. This little learning lesson isn’t at all a surprise, but something worth noting. Energy comes in basically two varieties - that used for electricity, and that used for transportation. We might see a day in my lifetime where they’re synonymous (with the obvious exception being air travel which will almost always require a fuel be transported with the aircraft). Electric cars? Mag-Lev rail? Perhaps this is what 2050 global transportation will look like.

There are a lot of hype machines in action - and everyone seems to have an agenda. Again, another obvious lesson learned - but there is clearly not one single unifying theory of energy answers. Solar and wind are immediately put down for their intermittent nature. Nuclear requires huge investments and big questions about waste. Coal is just generally evil - except for the fact that it’s awesomely efficient, we have ample quantities of it domestically, and it’s very well understood. Hydrogen will perpetually suffer from chicken-or-the-egg syndrome. Tidal can’t provide enough energy period. Biofuels are causing food prices to rise and are actually energy losers once all is processed and consumed. And those are just a handful of the arguments out there.

Regardless, I’ve vastly enjoyed working on ALTENTODAY.com so far, and I’ll be eager to continue to fill these pages will useful information and research as I discover it. As always, if you have thoughts, comments, suggestions, complaints, or other remarks - I welcome you to leave me a message.