I tend to disagree. I think we could become energy independent in a far quicker timeframe than most assume. However, it would require strong public sector incentives to facilitate the financing of the requisite infrastructure changes.
T. Boone Pickens makes a good point about encouraging using NG as a transitional fuel. We have vast supplies of it domestically available. However, we would need to wean utilities off of it in order to make it available as a vehicle fuel. Thus, nuclear, wind, wave, and solar are going to be required, as well as stronger support for the PURPA program where citizens are encouraged to purchase alt-energy generators and sell excess power back to the utilities.
I also STRONGLY favor these PHEV technologies. Well over 50% of ordinary fuel use is consumed during the daily commute. Get vehicles that can travel 40-50 miles per day on battery alone and you'll cut DEEPLY into daily imports of oil. And consumers will STILL have the ability to travel beyond that range, with mileage remaining at 50-100 MPG. That's pretty significant in itself. Cutting our imports of oil will also have dramatic repercussions on our balance of trade issues.
The one issue with PHEV are the batteries. They are expensive to produce, create a recycling hassle long-term, and some are potentially a fire hazard in certain temperature ranges (they require cooling). Thus, they are an interim solution as we progress towards a hydrogen economy, facilitated by non-platinum anode Fuel Cells, which are now in the early stages of research.
Another technology to be aware of are Ultra Capacitors. There's a company by the name of Eestor, that is backed by Kleiner, Perkins (Al Gore and Colin Powell are on their BOD) that claims to have developed a fast charging Ultra Capacitors. They are very secretive, and the technology still controversial, but one never knows if they might actually have found the "holy grail" of PHEVs.
en.wikipedia.org
But again, T. Boone Pickens is hitting it right on the head.. We have far too much money leaving this country, and we've spent nearly 3/4 of a trillion dollars being engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's money, if focused upon energy independence, that would likely derive a tremendous result.
Hawk |
