We Use Fossil Fuels to Produce Electricity.

How Crazy Is That?

development. Its availability has created the impression, until recently, that "portable energy" is so cheap as to be almost free, and so plentiful as to be virtually limitless. No longer can we think like that.
      So, we urge our members to think of motor fuel in a new way: as the only energy source that is portable and light enough to fuel an airplane. The other uses of motor fuel have viable substitutes, ones that are both cleaner and renewable, and, increasingly, we must use them.

      By now, we are all familiar with the major sources of renewable energy: wind, solar, hydroelectric, wave action, geothermal and nuclear. The first four are variations on solar. The last two are different, but when you really think about it, they too are a form of "solar", just in a more direct way. Each of these sources is used today, and we expect them all to exhibit enormous growth in future decades. Another trait they all share is that the form of energy most easily extracted from them is electricity, which has some unique strengths and weaknesses. First, it is relatively easily transmitted, at least over short distances. Second, it is devilishly hard to store, so it is often subject to "use it or lose it" rules, especially in the case of solar and wind, which are transitory. (Notice how diametrically opposed they are to motor fuel in these ways).

      Here we are with fossil fuels (coal, crude oil and natural gas) running out, polluting the atmosphere and causing geopolitical upheaval. Meanwhile, we are using these fuels to generate the majority of our electricity, the very form of energy that is most easily produced from renewable sources. How crazy is that?
      What we must do is introduce policies and incentives to ensure that we use almost exclusively renewables for electricity and that we use as much of that electricity as we can to replace motor fuel for vehicles. How can these goals be accomplished?
      First, we need to build out wind, solar, geothermal and nuclear sources as rapidly as we can.
      Second, we need to improve our "grid" for delivering electricity efficiently over long distances.
      Third, we need, almost more than anything, to develop ways to store electrical energy for reuse at other times in other places (more on this below).
      Fourth, we need to deploy millions of plug-in electrical vehicles (both pure electrics and hybrids) so that motor fuel use is greatly reduced.
      Fifth, we need to electrify as many trains and buses as we can.
      Sixth, we need to consider nuclear power for at least our larger ships (this may not be economic, but needs to be studied).
      Last, we need to preserve as much motor fuel as we can for aviation, since it is the only major energy use for which there is not yet a renewable energy source.