Obama Says Oil Spill Highlights Need for Renewable Energy

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

- Albert Einstein

What has been going on in the Gulf of Mexico for the last month or so is sickening to me. Sickening in the environmental sense of course. But I am more sickened by our rabid addiction to oil. We of course use the most of our petroleum products in the gas tanks of our cars and trucks to get ourselves to the grocery store, or the shopping mall, or kid's soccer practice, as well as to transport our produce, furniture, building materials, and general crap. There's also the facts that plastics are petroleum based. Think about how much plastic you have in your home right now! Gobs and gobs. I could go on but I think you get the idea. We are addicted to oil and our economy depends on it. And if the oil gushing out of the gash at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico isn't a siren, we are in for a long, hard slog. Our consumption of the black gold is unsustainable.

So President Obama had the courage to call for more renewable energy - in the midst of a horrible and deep recession, at least 10% unemployment, fighting two wars, a growing national debt, social security running dry, 401Ks decimated for those close to retirement, and what I think will be the greatest man-made environmental disaster the world has ever experienced. I can hear the naysayers, "We can't afford to invest in renewable energy, when there are so other many problems to tackle," or they might say, "We have to let the free market dictate the future of renewable energy." You know who they are.

There are many paths to more renewable energy, the free market included, but I don't think we have the luxury of time to let large corporations and the "free market" decide our fate. BP, a large global corporation, has already begun to destroy the water and coastal ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico trying to feed our addiction to oil and to feed their burgeoning wallets. The big U.S. bank corporations (you know "too big to fail") have already destroyed the global economy and refuse to stop practicing the speculation that got us into this trouble. That's not a really good track record for entities that can have an enormous and tragic affect on our lives. I suppose we will continue to see these economic and environmental disasters as long as there is this insatiable, unsustainable drive for more profits. In the name of profit and the quarterly Wall Street kabuki dance, corners will always be cut, jobs will lost, lives will be lost, and greed will win the day. Is this really who we want to be?

I don't know about you but I want solar photovoltaic modules on my house generating clean electricity from the sun rather than getting my electricity from a coal-fired power plant miles away. But I need help, because I can't afford to do these things right now with the unstable economy and I need help because we don't have the luxury of time (just Google "pine beetle kill" for just one example of the affect of a changing climate on Colorado forests) to let the market decide when the price of solar PV is going to be cheaper than coal.

So, if Einstein is correct, we are going to have to develop new ways of thinking to solve our problem of addiction to oil and any other unsustainable activity we humans like to practice. Do we have the courage to think differently?

Algae Could 'Supply Entire World with Aviation Fuel'

Hmm. A Total oil executive says that there needs to be a tax on airlines for the fuel they use and that we need to save our precious supply of oil. Now an airline exec from Boeing says that algae based biofuels could supply airlines with all of the fuel they need. Now let's see. Where should we invest our money and time? In traditional finite, petroleum-based fuels or in organic based biofuels that are renewable? Hmm. Reason number 1,345,054 to take the word of oil executives with a grain of salt.

Energy Executive on the End of Oil

Interesting interview with a Total oil exec from over the pond. He mentions that oil production will stagnate over the next 20 years. I wonder if all oil execs believe this to be true but refuse to admit this publicly. If this is indeed true, would the best business strategy be to just sit on the oil that is left in the form of "saving it," or is the smart money on finding new ways of producing energy? Hmmm.

The Total oil exec in the interview is advocating a "save the oil" mentality as a first means of easing the stagnating oil production problem. This is of course opposed to investing in the advancement of renewable energy sources. Yes, I think we should save oil and reduce our consumption. But the ultimate goal is to find other sources of energy that are renewable, won't hurt the planet, and where money can be made. Right? Why is it so hard for these oil execs to break out of the petroleum paradigm?

There Is No Such Thing as Clean Coal

I saw an ad on the television the other day, using a clip of President Barack Obama (presidential candidate at the time) on the campaign trail saying to the crowd that clean coal (scrubbing sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other particulate emissions from the coal-burning process) could be a reality some day soon. I've also seen and heard Barry Schweitzer, governor of Montana, speak to the benefits of carbon sequestration (burying carbon dioxide underground) from coal-fired power plants. The latter is unproven on a large-sale and is cost prohibitive. The former is to me an oxymoron. Even if you capture all of the particulate matter and toxic chemicals from the coal-burning process where do you put it? We've seen what happened in Tennessee when we put another by-product of the coal burning process, fly-ash (aka "slurry"), into large storage ponds or landfills. There's a chance that it will spill, flood, or completely leach into the water supply as we saw in Tennessee in December 2008.

If you hadn't already noticed from the masthead above, I am a proponent of renewable energy. The reasons are simple. For one, the current rate at which the U.S. and other emerging economies (China and India) burn coal for their electricity and/or use oil in the combustion engine is unsustainable. These fossil fuels are both finite and hazardous to humans, animals and the planet itself. Second, I am a much happier person (and I think it's safe to say for all Earthly people) with clean air, water, and land. Burning coal or oil doesn't contribute to clean air, water, or land. Using renewable energy sources does. Third, finding renewable resources to assist with our energy needs is the right thing to do for the living and future generations.

I am not an environmentalist or a moral crusader. I am realist. That having been said, I am going to go out on a limb here and say that there is no such thing as clean coal and burying carbon dioxide underground is a fool's errand. Utilizing renewable, clean energy technologies to offset some of our coal-burning is a step in the right direction. And let it be known that I completely understand that the road ahead involves a partnership with coal, because the base electricity load cannot be supported by solar or wind technologies alone. Coal still needs to be used for the foreseeable future. But we can't continue to use coal as our primary means to electricity because it is the cheapest source out there. When our skies are polluted and our coastal cities are flooded and our droughts get worse, and the forest fires become more intense and prevalent, and the food supply dwindles, and people begin to starve, I dare say that we aren't going to care whether things are "cheaper."

So let's lose the myopia, and the feeble attempts at placating the coal and oil lobbies who scream that the sky will fall and jobs will be lost if we take away the lush subsidies that they receive today. We need to roll up our sleeves and figure out a way to transfer most of our energy production to renewable sources as soon as possible. This isn't a time for politics as usual or business as usual. This isn't time for outta sight outta mind and back to our SUVs and driving 10 miles to the grocery store just because gas prices are low. This is time to plan for the future with innovation and research and investment into renewable energy, alternative public transportation sources, localization (food, energy, and commerce), smart grids, and urban renewal. What do you think?

Under Obama, Dark Days Seen Ahead For Fossil Fuels

Pardon me for refraining from shedding a tear for the fossil fuel industry, but the dark days for fossil fuels should have happened back in the 1970s. How long must we remain at the mercy of Middle East oil or continue to dig/drill coal/oil/natural gas just to burn it and increase CO2 emissions? I'm ready for a dramatic and intelligent change in our national energy policy and I hope that President Obama will provide that change. I'm fully aware that we can't just flip a switch and blamo! renewable energy displaces fossil fuels and we all live happily ever after. But I'm also fully aware that the petroleum and coal industries are going to whine and complain loudly while never giving up a penny of their profits for the betterment of mankind. It's completely ridiculous that we listen to their horse manure of an excuse about lost jobs or that the coal industry is the backbone of our country. These are greedy individuals who only care about their profits. And until we stop listening to them and start thinking about other ways of producing energy, this country will continue to swirl the toilet drain of myopia.

Pheeww. Thanks for letting me vent.

Building Jobs with Renewable Energy: Colorado's Booming Energy Business

Great article on Colorado's bright future as a renewable energy leader. I am convinced that we can become the RE capital of the U.S. if not the world. We have the educated workforce, the desire to innovate, and a solid foundation of educational and research institutions on the Front Range (think Colorado School of Mines, NREL, and Red Rocks Community College). It's possible with a little perseverance and elbow grease. In addition, the impending recession doesn't have to be as brutal if we can begin to think about how to transition the old economy workforce to the new RE economy workforce.

Plane that Flies on Solar Power

This is a crazy and beautiful expression of human imagination and ambition. The inventors (Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg) have built a solar-powered plane and hope to circumnavigate the globe one day soon. One their reasons for trying this was that they simply wanted to fly without fuel. Cool. I wish I could go with them while they fly that thing around the planet. And we wish those gents the best of luck.

Kids, Don't Write Disinformation Like This In Your Newspaper

I don't know why I am even posting this on my blog, but I was looking for a contrarian position on renewable energy today. I post a lot of pro-RE stuff and tend to avoid opposite viewpoints. But this opinion piece is typical of the reason why I can't find any well-thought and factually supported opposing viewpoints. And it's from a professor in the department of chemical and petroleum engineering at Kansas University who just cherry picked certain things to prove his point. The article is sort of like listening to your grandpa provide black and white solutions to current gray problems. Anyway, I could pick the opinion piece apart line by line, but I'll leave it up to you to sift through the sludge. Oh and by the way check out the comments at the bottom of the article.