HOW CLOSE IS CLEAN ENERGY?

The world is heading into a huge energy crisis - or might that be a transformation?

By GUY DAUNCEY
ECONEWS
http://www.earthfuture.com/econews/
#102 Promoting the Vision of a Sustainable Vancouver Island
February, 2001

The world is heading into a huge energy crisis - or might that be a
transformation?

Although it may sound offensive to rational ears, the Earth is our mother;
ever since we learnt how to use fire, we have drunk energy from her
breasts, first as wood, then as coal, oil and gas. We have demolished
entire forests and put men through hell to pull coal from the ground,
rarely questioning what we did. Why should we question that? It was our
entitlement, as a baby sucks milk.

The more energy we craved, we deeper we dug in, seeking more teats. Now
it's the Alaska Wildlife Reserve we're after, to squeeze out another 3
months supply. The oil spills, the poisoning of our children's lungs, the
wars we needed to fight to satisfy our craving - these were all secondary
considerations.

But now things have taken on a much more serious note. As a result of our
fossil-fuel burning, our Earth has caught a fever. Her ice-caps and
glaciers are melting; her oceans are warming; her coral reefs are dying.
Scientists at Britain's Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research
warn that the Amazon will start dying by 2040, as its soils dry out.

A good metaphor is like a road, that leads inevitably towards its
destination. After breast-feeding comes weaning. What does this mean for
us, as a planet?

Surely, it means reaching for the natural, clean energy of the sun, wind
and tides, whose energy pours around us unbidden, and treating this energy
as something to be valued through a real concern for efficiency, not
wasting it like a child. As a suckling species, we felt an entitlement to
suck away; as we look after ourselves, we must be more careful.

There is no shortage of clean, renewable energy in the world. Every year,
the sun radiates 220 million terawatt-hours of energy onto the Earth, two
thousand times more than the world's annual consumption of primary energy
(111,000 TWh). Canada's entire electricity needs could be met from 2.5%
(6,000 square miles) of Manitoba, if they were covered in solar modules at
today's level of efficiency. This assumes four times less sunshine than
Arizona, which could meet the USA's electricity needs from 10,000 square
solar miles.

The only problem is the cost; solar currently costs 27 cents/kwh, compared
to B.C.'s energy price of 5.5 cents Canadian (3.5 cents US). With mass
production, this could fall to 9.75 cents, or 13 cents if you assume a
subsidized 3% interest rate to finance the installation over 20 years.
Solar energy production is growing by 30% a year, but the world's total
production in 2000 was only 250 MW. Our solar potential is huge. Even in
cloudy Britain, Greenpeace has calculated that solar fitted to all suitable
roofs and walls could meet 2/3rds of Britain's electricity needs.

Estimates put the world's land-based Class 3 wind energy potential at
19,000 to 50,000 terawatt hours; this might double with offshore wind,
though there are no reliable estimates. Wind energy sells for 4-6 US cents
a kilowatt hour, compared to the US average of 6-8 cents. The world had
15,900 MW of wind energy capacity in October 2000, of which Germany had
6,000 MW, thanks to their renewable energy law, which guarantees a good
price.

The world also has an ample supply of tidal, wave, geothermal, microhydro
and biomass energy (details next month, and see Green Diary, Feb 6th). If
we become twice as efficient in all our energy uses (cars, appliances,
industry), and reduce our energy use by another 50% by practicing more
sustainable lifestyles (efficient transport and communities, 100% recycling
and remanufacturing, zero-waste), there is enough clean energy available to
meet our needs, including its use to manufacture hydrogen for use in our
vehicles and industry.

The biggest obstacle, especially here in B.C., is the ridiculously cheap
price of energy, which gives people no incentive to invest in alternatives
or efficiency. In the USA, it is striking to note that the states which pay
the least for their energy (Louisana, Wyoming, Alaska, Texas) pay the most
for energy per person on an annual basis. The incentive for efficiency is
so low that they end up spending more overall.

The solution is an efficiency fee on all our hydro bills, raising the
price, but recycling 100% of the income back to us as rebates for
efficiency investments. We would end up paying less for energy, reduce our
overall demand, not need to build the Georgia Strait Crossing gas pipeline,
and free up available hydro to sell to the lucrative US market, earning
income which could be used to support the development of clean energy. Good
sense, all round.  - Guy Dauncey

ECONEWS  Issue 102
A monthly newsletter, funded by your donations, that dreams of a Vancouver
Island and a world blessed by the harmony of nature, the joy of community &
the pleasure of deep fulfillment for all.

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