Not renewable, but Unlimited Energy

The future of Energy may best be referred to not as "alternative" energy or even "renewable" energy but as "UNLIMITED ENERGY".

Why? Because what red-blooded oil junkie is not going to crave unlimited power?

The head of what energy corporation is not going to be motivated by the thought of controlling an unlimited resource!

And Unlimited energy means unlimited jobs!!!

Unlimited profits!!!

Unlimited future!!!

Unlimited scope of your projects.

Unlimited human potential.

Unlimited legacy.

UNLIMITED ENERGY.

The only problem is current solar panels capture 15 percent of the energy that is available in the light that hits those solar panels. Some of the experimental panels can get upward of 20 percent, I heard, but if we could get them into the 30 percent range or even higher, the whole game changes.

However, if you planted solar panels as they currently are on top of every roof in America, you'd go a long way towards solving the energy crisis. That, and a bunch of wind turbines in windy areas.

Even at $100/barrel, oil is still "cheap". Alternative energy sources require a big upfront investment. But it's in our interest to MAKE that investment. Larger demand will spur more research in Solar power and more insight on making manufacturing cheaper.

So, the deal here is that the US government needs to subsidize the panels and pass laws requiring that utilities accept Grid Intertie systems.

I see lots of commercial rooftops that should be covered with solar panels. If you make the upfront investment palatable, they'll be happy to put them up there.

Because of it's rich energy density, oil is not going away, even if it goes to $200/barrel. I don't think you'll ever run a tank on hydrogen cells. The important thing is to get an alternative infrastructure and make the fossil fuel crash a "soft landing". The more alternative energy we use the less demand for fossil fuels and this will decrease their price. As alternatives ramp up, fossil fuels will ramp down.

In another 100 years, the oil will probably be so expensive that military and heavy transport applications will be the only viable use. For everyone else, efficiency will be the name of the game. Vehicles will become much lighter and rail/bicycle travel will become dominant.

BTW, as part of our transition we need to start taxing the shit out of heavy passenger vehicles like the Ford Expedition. We need to subsidize light, fuel efficient vehicles. We also need to subsidize mass transport. In short, our society needs to become more like Europe.

We can't drill our way out this mess. Nor can we simply put up windmills and solar panels as well. It will be a change to every sector of our economy. It will require everything be twice as efficient. It will require biologic engineering to emulate the hydrocarbon formation process in a rapid amount of time. It will require a great deal of political courage.

We are heading over the top of Hubbert's peak and it will be very uncomfortable for quite some time.