The ongoing development of alternative fuel sources must not hinder the innovative use of existing clean energy solutions as a method of battling against climate change and runaway energy costs. Among the various strategies currently being pursued by government and industry, the quest to slash harmful carbon emissions and lower fuel costs has spurred a host of innovations.
The deterioration and vulnerability of the US infrastructure has been brought to the forefront in recent years by events such as water main failures, levee breaks, power grid disruptions and a high-profile bridge collapse.
Beginning in 1998 The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) periodically produces a “Report Card for America’s Infrastructure,” giving a grade from A to F to various components of the national infrastructure. The current report card, published in 2009, provides a broad survey of infrastructure conditions, with an average grade of “D,” and spending needs. The report card anticipates a five-year need of more than $2.1 trillion to restore the U.S. infrastructure to good conditions, with only approximately half of that amount currently funded.
In recent years, nuclear power has been getting a second look. The increased attention in nuclear energy has been stimulated of late through changes in governmental policy (i.e., loan guarantees), public opinion on global warming, concerns over foreign oil dependence and industrial investment opportunities.
With the unrest in the Middle East and domestic energy policy decisions affecting global energy markets and domestic gas prices, Americans are once again calling for a strong U.S. energy policy to reign in the high gas prices, which are eating up more of their monthly budgets and increasing the costs of other consumer goods.
The nations of the Arab world have entered an extended period of instability as repressive regimes, both royal and dictatorial, struggle to either quash or meet the growing political aspirations of their peoples. Calls for democratic reform are not just sweeping the Arab world, they are also percolating in sub-Saharan Africa where populations watch what is happening to the north as they harbor similar demands for political and economic reform. While some states may succeed over the short-to-medium term in repressing those aspirations, the reform genie is out of the bottle in others, and the first step in the messy long-term process of developing multi-party systems and constitutional monarchies has begun. Should the reform movements fail to meet the basic but growing expectations of their citizenry, the countries and regions will become increasingly unstable and radicalized. This, in turn, will raise the premium on the price of oil, gas and many other raw materials, just as demand and growth begin to accelerate in the developed economies.
When a country’s most profitable industry, which employs hundreds of thousands of residents, also happens to be known for its risks, there are always new and unique ways to better protect those who drive the industry’s success.
Recently, the solar power debate has been heating up. Spurred in part by China’s burgeoning interest in solar as a long-term energy solution—the Chinese government announced last year that it intends to spend $454 billion over the next decade on alternative energy and to quintuple its solar production by 2020—governments, researchers, and pundits in the United States and other countries are forging the next steps in harnessing the sun. While many debates have focused on the costs – which are still high but dropping steadily – of rolling out the technology on nationwide scales, or on improving the efficiency of existing solar technologies, a more fundamental debate may shape the future of the industry. This is the question of whether traditional or thin-film solar panels provide the best way forward.
In 1971, Pete Townshend of The Who wrote the song “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” Its lyrics reflected the cynicism of the times – a growing conviction that revolutions often succeed only in bringing to power regimes similar to those they replaced. The ’60s were gone and with them the sense of hope and euphoria that characterized the era, or so my father tells me. I wasn’t alive in the ’60s, and I like Townshend’s song because of the heavy power chords and aggressively synthesized organ.
Contact
Energy and Mining International
79 West Monroe St., Suite 400
Chicago, IL 60603
