ttystikk
Well-Known Member
The cost and environmental footprint of solar and wind power has fallen dramatically in the last 20 years and ramping up their production and installation will continue to provide benefits for decades to come. Electrified transportation can reduce its fossil fuels consumption, even without batteries. One example of low hanging fruit in this area is the electrification of America's rail network. Converting the railways would save billions of gallons of diesel over the next 40 years, even while overall energy efficiency improves by an order of magnitude. Increasing the trackage to include a high speed rail network would cannibalize both automobile and air travel, improving the overall picture even more.
Better batteries with higher charge density and longer service life are in development, which have the potential to provide for commercial scale electric aircraft, not to mention electric cars and trucks. Where does the energy come from? I think the next frontier of green energy is geothermal power generation, using natural hotspots at first and then likely expanding to many more locations with improved drilling technology, if the model of progression of fossil fuels extraction is repeated.
It is already the case that renewable energy sources are chipping away at coal fired power production. This process will continue. Covering the roofs of the world with solar panels would not increase humanity's footprint on the ground and that surface area is plenty to make a serious dent in the power generation necessary to run the world's transportation. The extra shade would even help reduce energy consumption for climate control.
Humans CAN make the switch. It is only a matter of the will to do so. Whether it will make a difference in our ultimate survival depends on how quickly we switch and how renewable and recyclable all of our technologies are, not just that bit used for power generation.
Better batteries with higher charge density and longer service life are in development, which have the potential to provide for commercial scale electric aircraft, not to mention electric cars and trucks. Where does the energy come from? I think the next frontier of green energy is geothermal power generation, using natural hotspots at first and then likely expanding to many more locations with improved drilling technology, if the model of progression of fossil fuels extraction is repeated.
It is already the case that renewable energy sources are chipping away at coal fired power production. This process will continue. Covering the roofs of the world with solar panels would not increase humanity's footprint on the ground and that surface area is plenty to make a serious dent in the power generation necessary to run the world's transportation. The extra shade would even help reduce energy consumption for climate control.
Humans CAN make the switch. It is only a matter of the will to do so. Whether it will make a difference in our ultimate survival depends on how quickly we switch and how renewable and recyclable all of our technologies are, not just that bit used for power generation.
