Renewable Energy is Not the Answer
Provocative title I know but . . .
We spoke before about cheap energy and the ways in which we have formed our society around it, made it an integral part of the way we live. Our ability to extract energy from fossil fuels with relative ease and, for many years, with little worry over environmental consequences led to the production of a culture which accepts the availability of such energy as the norm. The way way we live, work and play is completely tied to affordable energy. So, with the dawning realization that fossil fuel energy production is hurting our planet and that it’s availability as a resource is limited, we have begun searching desperately for replacements.
Unfortunately, our energy usage is so massive that no replacement or group of replacements stands a chance of feeding our appetite. Even as our ability to produce energy from renewable sources grows, so does our demand for more. Our ability to replace fossil fuels with non-polluting energy sources is so far distant that it’s almost depressing. For a sobering dose of realism, check out CNet’s Green Technology Blog. Their recent overview of the energy situation illustrates this point better than I could do here.
Now, everyone speaks of conservation as an important part of any energy plan, but in truth it should be the whole of any energy plan that hopes to decrease fossil fuel usage in the foreseeable future. We cannot continue to use energy at the rate we currently do and expect to free ourselves from fossil fuels. To see any increase in the tiny slice of the pie renewable energy sources represent (see above graph), we have to considerably shrink the pie.
Renewable resources, however important they may be, do not seem to be the answer to our energy problems. Only conservation, using less energy, will provide the environmental and national security benefits of decreased fossil fuel usage. This should be the driving force of energy policies and the backbone of political movement. Unfortunately, it is a lot harder to tell people to use less than it is to say, “keep buying SUVs . . . cheaper, safer, renewable fuel is on the way.” Wind and solar energy ideas are much “cooler” than arguments about mileage and better insulation. Fuel cells beat the hell out of walking.
As long as renewable energy maintains its illusory promise of a solution, conservation will be a hard to promote. With solar, wind and geothermal energy around the corner, why do I need to find a way to do without air conditioning? If alternative fuels hold so much promise, what does the size of my car matter? While work on renewable fuels is important and deserves funding, a realistic view of their contribution needs to be maintained and promoted. Conservation must be championed as it is the only way to change course.
Argue with me. Tell me I’m wrong. Agree with me. Do it in the comments.
Nic Darling is a Philadelphia writer and talker . . . mostly a talker. Really, he just won’t shut up.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Fantastic post that also speaks to our philosophy towards the homes we are designing. When people ask about our green homes, often the first thing they ask is if we will have solar panels?
The biggest impact towards the energy consumption of our homes is to cut the size in half of the average US new home being built today. The second biggest impact is then regarding the building envelope which reduces the demand on both heating and cooling. This also is not sexy and relatively uninteresting to the average consumer not truly interested in green building.
Solar, wind and green roofs will often be the last features considered for postgreen homes as they are more flashy and less cost effective measures in green building that are available to reduce energy consumption.
That chart is a little depressing…
Thanks for writing this. Of course, as Chad’s comment suggests, it isn’t strictly an either/or proposition - renewable energy can and should be combined with conservation at the micro level, with rooftop solar collectors, groundwater heat exchangers, and the like. But the public discourse assumes that we should continue to have a centralized energy system, and even more, that THE PARTY MUST GO ON. Because at some subconscious level, we all know that the fossil fuled economy is unsustainable, and that we’re going to have a hell of hangover when it’s over.
Thanks for the comment Dave. I was beginning to wonder if anyone was actually reading these guest posts.
I agree. The answer definitely isn’t either/or, but I feel that conservation needs to receive far greater weight in policy and promotion than it currently does. Surfing the news and listening to politicians one would think that salvation lies in renewable fuel.
“The Party” is an apt metaphor, and I may steal it for future conversations. Some hangover indeed.
It’s bad for business but…we also have to start thinking about the decline of consumerism. The consumption of everything we consume, be it nature made or man made must be reduced. We all need to learn to live on less, wasting nothing. It’s very possible but something very bad probably has to happen before it hits home in a big enough way to change the thinking.
Unfortunately, I am unable to disagree with you Lucy. Major change is seldom a comfortable, gradual thing. Historically it has often required catastrophic events to perpetrate significant cultural shifts.
Our economic system demands constant growth. Even stasis isn’t enough, let alone decreased consumption. But, perhaps there is hope in a consumer shift? Maybe a move away from material consumption toward information consumption or something of the sort? A decrease in the consumption of goods offset by an increase in the consumption of services?
Probably not, but it is nice to have hope.
[...] To think that just a few months ago, I thought that offering a PV upgrade option to convert an all-electric home to a zero energy home would be feasible. We are using gas now for both water and space heating and have eliminated A/C and we still can’t come close. We wouldn’t even have enough room on the roof to fit enough solar panels to make it zero energy. This is a bit sobering and a testament to the fact that renewable energy is not the answer. [...]
Your point is well taken, Nic. There is no silver bullet for creating the type of change we need. I do want to point out that you made no mention of the third major tool in our tool box: energy efficiency. Conservation will be necessary, and it is a sacrifice that everyone will be forced to make at some point. Energy efficiency is currently the ‘cheapest’ source of renewable energy and another way to shrink the pie. Most importantly, I see it as a first step in creating energy-conscious consumers. It’s far easier to tell people to start conserving energy when you’ve proven the benefits of being efficient with it. Efficiency brings allies to our side, because it’s pragmatic and cost-saving, and it gets people in the mindset of thinking less can be more.
I think what you’re saying is valuable & you are probably right, however I also want to note a couple of things I’ve run across in my web wanderings recently –
I’ve been watching videos on this site: http://www.ted.com/ — it’s kind of an Al Gore / Ted Branson / Jane Goodall / Bono kind of site –
& one speaker, I forget his name, mentioned the huge potential of geothermal, as compared with the miniscule amount spent on researching it by the Bush regime;
& another speaker, Ray Kurzweil, was describing the huge potential of nanotechnology which might one day harvest solar energy.
I would add that as our nature is getting destroyed, it is getting transformed into higher and higher technology, which, as the guy who wrote “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” reminded us, also has Buddha-nature.
I could be quite wrong about this, but I’m reminded of the coyote / roadrunner cartoons: there are two possible reactions when you find yourself up in the air above a canyon: look down and fall as the coyote does, or continue to run like hell until you reach the other side as the roadrunner does.
I write this as a believer in the consciousness of nature, a mourner of whales, and a rememberer of stories: Prometheus stealing fire and giving it to us; Odin hanging upside-down from a tree for nine nights until the runes came to him; and Wiwati, the green man of Secoya legend, simply speaking his name, once, to create the entire Amazon rainforest.
E. Whitaker Lee - I couldn’t agree more, and I guess I was thinking increased efficiency and decreased use when I mentioned conservation. Thanks for the clarification.
Nathan H. - I am a strong believer in the pursuit of alternative energy as a part of our effort to preserve the planet as we know it. However, I am concerned that this segment of our efforts receives undue attention. No matter what advances are made in alternative energy, a reduction of energy use and increased efficiency will be vital to our eventual success. That said, I agree . . . run like hell.
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