So my daughter and I had an interesting conversation the other day. We'd been on a date - we went to see "Warcraft" (her choice) and ate at Zupas (her choice) - and as the only place we could find in Utah that was playing the film Monday afternoon was in Pleasant Grove, we had a nice long drive together as well. It was a very pleasant evening.
During the drive, we'd passed by some homes with photo voltaic cells on the roof. You've seen them - they're usually called "solar panels"...
...and she asks me - dad, why don't we have more of these kinds of systems in the world?
We talked about how the world needs energy, and that right now the cheapest form of energy is burning stuff to make electricity. People have been burning things forever. We burn wood for heat and light, for cooking meals and communication, and for protection and even celebration. We burn coal for heat as well, but also for use in manufacturing and electricity production. We burn natural gas for heat and electricity production. We burn gasoline in our vehicles to get us and our stuff around. And we burn oil for heat and electricity as well. It's not new - and although it's become more efficient, we're still burning stuff. With all of the attendant pollution and climate impacts.
It's gotten better - our cars are much more efficient and clean than they have been, and our coal-fired plants are either being phased out or replaced by natural gas, which tends to be much cleaner. But there seems to be an ingrained, almost fundamental need for humans to burn stuff. Which is very interesting to me.
So to switch to something that doesn't involve burning to release energy, we need an attendant fundamental shift in how we perceive, collect, and utilize energy.
It's clear that some of these areas are easier to access than others, and a great deal of international cooperation would be needed - energy supplies are a vital national interest, so this kind of consolidated approach may not be feasible. But even spread out across the several nations, we're looking at something that seems possible, provided we could find the political will to do it.
Which would also involve a fundamental shift in how we access, store, and use the energy thus produced. The production of the energy itself is where we may need to find the biggest shift - we need to quit burning stuff.
And as my daughter and I discussed all of this, she really began to inspire hope in me - hope that maybe that shift is underway, that people are starting to realize that we don't need to be dependent on burning things to create the energy we need, and that maybe we can look forward to a future that is efficient and clean.
Which leads me to this article:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36893104
This is encouraging as well. Mr. Musk is a true visionary - he's able to see beyond what currently is and he has the means to put it into effect. Which I think is encouraging. And it makes me want to buy a Tesla... :)
During the drive, we'd passed by some homes with photo voltaic cells on the roof. You've seen them - they're usually called "solar panels"...
...and she asks me - dad, why don't we have more of these kinds of systems in the world?
We talked about how the world needs energy, and that right now the cheapest form of energy is burning stuff to make electricity. People have been burning things forever. We burn wood for heat and light, for cooking meals and communication, and for protection and even celebration. We burn coal for heat as well, but also for use in manufacturing and electricity production. We burn natural gas for heat and electricity production. We burn gasoline in our vehicles to get us and our stuff around. And we burn oil for heat and electricity as well. It's not new - and although it's become more efficient, we're still burning stuff. With all of the attendant pollution and climate impacts.
It's gotten better - our cars are much more efficient and clean than they have been, and our coal-fired plants are either being phased out or replaced by natural gas, which tends to be much cleaner. But there seems to be an ingrained, almost fundamental need for humans to burn stuff. Which is very interesting to me.
So to switch to something that doesn't involve burning to release energy, we need an attendant fundamental shift in how we perceive, collect, and utilize energy.
More solar energy hits the earth in one hour than the whole world uses in one year. This is a pretty dramatic number, and surely the energy thus expressed is largely unavailable for convenient or practical collection, transmission, and use. However, this map shows the relative sizes of collection facilities that would be needed to produce the energy we need (the black dots represent the actual area of land that would be needed to put into photovoltaic farms to generate the energy we need):
Which would also involve a fundamental shift in how we access, store, and use the energy thus produced. The production of the energy itself is where we may need to find the biggest shift - we need to quit burning stuff.
And as my daughter and I discussed all of this, she really began to inspire hope in me - hope that maybe that shift is underway, that people are starting to realize that we don't need to be dependent on burning things to create the energy we need, and that maybe we can look forward to a future that is efficient and clean.
Which leads me to this article:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36893104
This is encouraging as well. Mr. Musk is a true visionary - he's able to see beyond what currently is and he has the means to put it into effect. Which I think is encouraging. And it makes me want to buy a Tesla... :)
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