xcel
06-15-2006, 04:50 PM
10 Steps To End America’s Fossil-Fuel Addiction. (http://www.popsci.com/popsci/energy/73c2c8195c8cb010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html)
Tom Clynes - Popular Science - July, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Pop_Sci_End_The_Fossil_Energy_Fix.jpg
First, the good news: America is poised for an energy renaissance. We already have the technology to begin seriously shifting away from fossil fuels toward clean, renewable power that can give us all the energy we crave while weaning us off foreign oil.
You know the bad news. The U.S. consumes a quarter of the planet’s daily output of 84 million barrels of oil, up to a third of that imported from unstable corners of the world. Meanwhile, rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are causing permafrost to melt, ice shelves to collapse-and climatologists to warn that if emissions continue at their current rate, the next generation will be subject to unprecedented environmental devastation.
There are no silver bullets here. Rather, a suite of new technologies, assembled with the help of dozens of scientists and energy experts, shows that by 2025 we can cut our oil consumption in half, and slash our reliance on electricity-producing fossil fuels, like coal and natural gas, almost entirely. Added to our portfolio of existing nuclear and hydroelectric power, renewable energy sources can virtually eliminate our need to rely on greenhouse-gas- producing fuels to run our homes and economy.
Of course, there will be misses along the way. Maybe you’ll gaze out from your airplane seat 20 years from now at flying windmill farms-or maybe you won’t. What you can bet on is that researchers and companies will compete to find the best technologies to harness renewable energy sources.
The major roadblocks to this new energy era are no longer technological; they are political and bureaucratic. If we can overcome them, the payoffs are huge: We’ll reduce trade deficits, enhance national security, and create millions of non-exportable jobs. We’ll ease an overwhelming array of environmental problems and make America far more competitive and self-sufficient in the process. Head to popsci.com/energy to see how we'll do it …
Tom Clynes - Popular Science - July, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Pop_Sci_End_The_Fossil_Energy_Fix.jpg
First, the good news: America is poised for an energy renaissance. We already have the technology to begin seriously shifting away from fossil fuels toward clean, renewable power that can give us all the energy we crave while weaning us off foreign oil.
You know the bad news. The U.S. consumes a quarter of the planet’s daily output of 84 million barrels of oil, up to a third of that imported from unstable corners of the world. Meanwhile, rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are causing permafrost to melt, ice shelves to collapse-and climatologists to warn that if emissions continue at their current rate, the next generation will be subject to unprecedented environmental devastation.
There are no silver bullets here. Rather, a suite of new technologies, assembled with the help of dozens of scientists and energy experts, shows that by 2025 we can cut our oil consumption in half, and slash our reliance on electricity-producing fossil fuels, like coal and natural gas, almost entirely. Added to our portfolio of existing nuclear and hydroelectric power, renewable energy sources can virtually eliminate our need to rely on greenhouse-gas- producing fuels to run our homes and economy.
Of course, there will be misses along the way. Maybe you’ll gaze out from your airplane seat 20 years from now at flying windmill farms-or maybe you won’t. What you can bet on is that researchers and companies will compete to find the best technologies to harness renewable energy sources.
The major roadblocks to this new energy era are no longer technological; they are political and bureaucratic. If we can overcome them, the payoffs are huge: We’ll reduce trade deficits, enhance national security, and create millions of non-exportable jobs. We’ll ease an overwhelming array of environmental problems and make America far more competitive and self-sufficient in the process. Head to popsci.com/energy to see how we'll do it …