In 2010 the world is predicted to use 150 trillion kilowatt hours of power, a sharp increase from 2009 when the U.S., the largest consumer of power in the world, only used 3.7 trillion kilowatt hours. If this trend of global consumption continues to rise so sharply a shift will need to be made in where the U.S. gets its power. Many speculate that the energy industry will begin to move towards alternative fuels while the price of fossil fuels will undoubtedly rise as they become scarce and oil lines will become more difficult to lay.
As it stands now alternative energy is to expensive to effectively enter in to the market and compete with fossil fuels. Wind energy which is the largest for alternative only accounts for 1.5% of energy to be consumed. Some new promising fields include Algal bio-fuels that will produce fuel that can be used in all automobiles and airplanes. The U.S. government recently granted 141 million dollars for research and development of algal bio-fuels to Sapphire Energy who plans on creating a 300 acre refinery.
While this shift in the energy market is occurring it will still be a while before alternative energy starts to be a real competitor with fossil fuels. Several things will need to happen before alternative energy can have a chance. Government may have to sponsor more alternative energy research and do things like put taxes on oil imports to help make it more profitable for companies to switch their focus on to alternative energy. The change is unquestioningly coming it is simply a matter of time.
-Tom Langevin
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704757904575077312569582760.html?KEYWORDS=alternative+energy
it is good to see the industry talking about moving away from fossil fuels, but it is scary to think about if our fossil fuels being to run out before we find the solution. I'm wondering what are the necessary steps that need to be taken to make alternative fuels more easily available and not as expensive to ensure that its strong enough to compete with the existing fossil fuels. As well the large increase in energy use shows the deep dependence from the US economy on our industry.
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