Dwain Northey (Gen X)
What is our energy future? We are working hard for a zero-carbon future in hopes of continuing our tenuous foot hold on this tiny blue dot in the cosmos.
The oligarchs of big oil and coal have convinced many that there is no bridge from fossil fuels to renewable sources like solar and wind. Their argument is that our need for energy is so vast that only by continuing to burn fossil fuels, which is a finite resource, our existence will not continue on the trajectory that mankind is on. Hundreds of Millions of dollars are spent lobbying governments to keep the world turning using resources that push ton of carbon into our atmosphere. Here in the U.S. we even subsidize the industries that are contributing to global climate change. These corporations have even admitted to the fact that they knew that sustained burning of fossil fuels would change the atmosphere and cause an increase of global temperatures and loss of sea ice. Yet we continue to burn gas and coal to power our homes and drive our automobiles.
The push for electric vehicles has increased and technology has followed suit. There are still those who scoff at electric cars, but they are of the same mindset that rejected the horseless carriage and insisted that television would never be a thing.
Electric cars are a good start, but the question remains what about everything else that requires energy? Solar has been on the rise for homes and businesses and solar batteries have increased solar usefulness and longevity although it is still an expensive option for most. The government has rolled out programs to help solarize homes and that has been a great benefit that many homeowners have exploited. Sadly, there aren’t many multifamily complexes, apartment homes, that have integrated renewable energy into their business model. That has to be something that city planners in the future have to push for when authorizing new construction in their cities.
It is true that currently solar and wind cannot fulfill the energy needs of our every growing population but there is nuclear energy that has greatly improved over the past 50 years. The days of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island appear to be catastrophes of the past and new nuclear plants are cleaner and far more efficient. Around a quarter of the EU’s energy is nuclear and more than half of that is produced in France. In total there are 103 reactors operating in 13 of the 27 member states. In 2019, these provided about 50 per cent of low-carbon electricity. The amount of energy provided by nuclear is projected to nearly double between 2020 and 2050. To achieve this, new capacity additions reach 30 GW per year in the early 2030s. The amount of energy consumption that is in the form of electricity increases from about 20% today to about 50% by 2050.
If we can bridge the gap with nuclear energy until scientists can develop and stabilize fusion technology which has the potential to provide cheep bountiful energy in the near future, we may just continue to survive on this little blue dot in the cosmos.
Esoteric Meandering Shouting Into the Void 