Hi Darfot,
i guess a very basic question to ask, regarding alternative energies, is if they're so great, why aren't they more prevalent?
In a word, "costs"... Nothing mankind has discovered, so far, has proven to be as cost effective as the combined uses of coal, petroleum and gas, all non-renewable sources of energy.
Of the alternatives, only nuclear power generation comes close to the overall costs of non-renewable sources.
I read somewhere (I think it was some type of brochure for the solar power industry) a report that indicated that gasoline would have to sell for something like $20 per gallon, and natural gas costs would need to increase by twenty-fold (or some such ridiculous number) to make solar research and mass manufacturing competitive, and that report is now probably at least 10 years old, so it's likely safe to assume that any costs associated with mass development of solar energy sources have also increased in the intervening years...
Other renewable sources, such as tidal (harnessing the energy that comes with the rising and ebbing tides, along with the energy produced by the action of waves), wind generation, geothermal, hydrogen (or other gasses), and weather (harnessing the power generated from lightning) are mega-years away from becoming cost effective, mass energy producers. And aside from existing hydroelectric facilities, there's darned little research and development going on anywhere in the world simply because none of the alternatives becomes cost effective until the current prices for oil, gas and coal rise to unbearable levels.
KJC |
