Though Ridiculed by the Moneyed Status Quo, Renewable Energy Makes Sense

I was just glancing through some comments to a recent essay on the future of nuclear energy and came across this comment on renewables. My initial reaction was to see if it had my name at the bottom; it begins with a message I manage to squeeze into every radio program on which I’m honored to be a guest. And, on those nights I may have had a glass of wine — or so — before sitting down to write after dinner, who knows? I could have written this myself and simply forgotten:

Every hour, the sun radiates more energy onto the Earth than the entire human population uses in one whole year.It has been estimated that a desert area in the southwestern United States that measures 161 km on a side (0.3% of the land area of the United States) could theoretically meet the electricity needs of the entire country if the solar radiation in that area could be converted to electricity with 10% efficiency – Sandia National Laboratories 2001

The technology is ready. (My note: I haven’t read this, but the author can only be talking about solar thermal / concentrating solar power). (Here is) a grand plan that could provide 69% of the U.S.’s electricity and 35% of its total energy (which includes transportation) with solar power by 2050. We project that this energy could be sold to consumers at rates equivalent to today’s rates for conventional power sources, about five cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). If wind, biomass and geothermal sources were also developed, renewable energy could provide 100% of the nation’s electricity and 90% of its energy by 2100. – Scientific American magazine December 16, 2007

(And then — in response to the concept that big money corrupts our nation’s energy policy) Imagine that — sustainable endless energy, least damaging to the environment (our lifeline). You are right, there is way too much money at stake, money is more important than people, now is more important than our children’s future… such a shame.

I’m happy to say that there are more people each day who “get this.”