And then, lastly, there is the element of fire. But, you might protest, isn’t the burning of fossil fuels what got us in trouble within our little greenhouse in the first place? Yes, it’s true, fire hasn’t been the producer of environmentally beneficial energies in the past, but there are still some ways that it can be helpful.
This is certainly true for the Army troops in Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq. Since May of this year the men have been getting rid of their garbage via biorefinery unit which turns their waste into usable energy. The tactical garbage-to-energy refinery uses a process of thermal gasification to change garbage into ethanol. It processes around a ton of garbage each day and can produce enough energy to run a 60 kilowatt generator. Now that’s fire power the troops can really use.
And then, of course, there’s that other source of fire-inspired energy, that humongous burning ball, the sun, which provides perhaps the best known of these alternative energy sources: solar power. The DOE is currently spending $150 billion a year on research and development in order to generate more solar energy systems (their website didn’t specify when this spending began, so the number of years this has been occurring isn‘t applicable). The department claims that not only will this alternative energy reduce carbon emissions, it will also create jobs as well as cut down on spending for industries and businesses.
Needless to say, alternative energy is not just expanding, it’s developing into an industry. According to a study conducted at the University of California, Berkeley, although switching to alternative energy sources may be more costly at first, in the end the money saved by conserving energy will cause economic growth. People will use the money they’ve saved by converting to different energy generators and spend it in other places, resulting in a boost to the economy.
Although it seems a strain both on our way of living and our pocketbooks to convert to using alternative energies, in the end the benefits outweigh our discomfort. Not only will this investment help the environment, it will also help our economy. These alternatives to our present energy sources will provide the power for all sorts of possibilities.
Article comments
1 - Georgio
I found your article to be interesting and informative..I am very interested in alternative energy and I think the country that masters it first will will be in better shape than the others ..I like what they are doing with the PRIUS,,I asked a women in the parking lot the other day if she liked it and if she got good mileage ,,she said she loved it and it gets 43 to 53 mpg and works even better in the city,,so with the the new plug in idea it could get 100 mpg as you have stated ..I just don't understand why the big three can't do the same .
2 - bliffle
The author asks "Why is it that the government is just starting to get the ball rolling on this?"
Because the government is owned by existing megacorporations and is obligated to do their bidding. They bought it and they own it.
Thus, while the DOE spends a meager $150million on solar power, which is actually producing power, they also spend $2billion on "clean coal" which is a myth and will never produce power without extraordinary pollution.
3 - bliffle
I filled the gas tank in Sunnyvale for $1.60 per gallon yesterday.
I hope everyone notices that crude oil is now $40 per barrel and, according to news tonight, the OPEC nations are desperate.
I hope everyone notices that not one drop of oil from ANWR or OCS has contributed to supply and WILL NOT for at least 10 years.
"Drill baby Drill" is therefore exposed as a fraud.
I hope everyone notices that Dick Cheney was wrong, DEAD WRONG, when he said that conservation wouldn't change oil prices.
In fact, USA conservation and world-wide conservation has driven prices down, down, down.
Dick Cheney was wrong. He was wrong when he said it, because we knew fom the 1973,4 OPEC embargo that conservation could break oil prices.
All people who supported "Drill now, drill here" were wrong. As were all people who said conservation could not affect oil prices.
A lot of those people are regular contributors right here on BC. Loudmouths eager to promote the administration line "drill baby drill". Where are they now?
4 - kipAidernenet
Neat website! I will visit soon