Alternative fuels of energy
A wonderful report on alternatives to oil-based energy sources; but, with a scary conclusion ( LINK)
There seem to be two immediate things to do to quench this ever-increasing thirt for energy:
1. find a high-return energy source (fission, fusion...).
2. improve energy-storage facilities (batteries...)
Finding a high-yield energy source is not enough without inventing/discovering a good energy storage mechanism. Fortunately, till now, oil is very transportable. With sources like solar power, fission, fusion... you need a battery or something like it to store the energy (unless ofcourse, we can manage to create micro-reactors that can be fitted into cars, planes...)
Both (1 and 2) are surely being pursued vigorously around the world - pretty obviously, we haven't gotten too far (but, the effort is still worth it).
The moral of the report and the post is simple: whether you can afford it or not, SAVE ENERGY. The question is not whether u can afford the cost of 10 lights switched on at the same time, the question is: do you want your kids to be able to watch FRIENDS?
Granted oil reserves are not infinite and us conserving energy/oil won't make it last for ever, but if we don't try to conserve energy, there is no hope of a smooth transition to the next great find in the energy sciences. As the report implies, grave times are ahead if we don't wake up. Imagine not having a job after doing an MBA, MS, MD...(not to forget, in your 40's if you belong to the 1980's and 1990's) just because you didn't always switch off the lights when you didn't need them!
There seem to be two immediate things to do to quench this ever-increasing thirt for energy:
1. find a high-return energy source (fission, fusion...).
2. improve energy-storage facilities (batteries...)
Finding a high-yield energy source is not enough without inventing/discovering a good energy storage mechanism. Fortunately, till now, oil is very transportable. With sources like solar power, fission, fusion... you need a battery or something like it to store the energy (unless ofcourse, we can manage to create micro-reactors that can be fitted into cars, planes...)
Both (1 and 2) are surely being pursued vigorously around the world - pretty obviously, we haven't gotten too far (but, the effort is still worth it).
The moral of the report and the post is simple: whether you can afford it or not, SAVE ENERGY. The question is not whether u can afford the cost of 10 lights switched on at the same time, the question is: do you want your kids to be able to watch FRIENDS?
Granted oil reserves are not infinite and us conserving energy/oil won't make it last for ever, but if we don't try to conserve energy, there is no hope of a smooth transition to the next great find in the energy sciences. As the report implies, grave times are ahead if we don't wake up. Imagine not having a job after doing an MBA, MS, MD...(not to forget, in your 40's if you belong to the 1980's and 1990's) just because you didn't always switch off the lights when you didn't need them!
posted by karthik durvasula | 3:22 PM
1 Comments:
very perceptive :)
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