September 18, 2016
By S. Thomas Bond
It is now becoming clear (click here) that developing unconventional drilling for hydrocarbon fuels is the wrong choice. Two trends moving rapidly work against then: increasing population and global warming.
World population is over 7 billion and heading for 9 billion in a lifetime. Demographics, based on present population and birthrate, makes very dependable predictions.
An increasing part of the population in the developed world is going to be aged and require care, while younger people are increasingly disinclined to have children. However, in other parts of the world the population is increasing rapidly, and will continue to.
The human species combined weight is more than the weight of any other species. Something like one-half the world’s primary production on land (new growth) is devoted to feeding, clothing and sheltering our species. No single species has ever been so “successful.”...
...We are burning carbon in only a relatively few years derived from geologic layers of coal, oil and gas that have taken millions of years to lay down. The world put 39.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2015, 2.3 percent more than the previous year, not including carbon dioxide that comes from wildfires....
...Today with fracking, gas gives the illusion of providing cost effective energy.
I say illusion, because much of the cost is ignored. It destroys large areas of the surface, contaminates aquifers, and dumps carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, not as much as coal, but about 57 percent, by weight. In effect, burning carbon is destroying the earth’s capacity to sustain life, including human life.
In addition, the methane is lost into the atmosphere in sufficient quantity to be a an additional serious global warming gas;...
...Renewables involve much more widespread ownership of capital, and much more (and more worker friendly) labor for the capital invested. Storage of electricity isn’t here yet, but is coming along nicely.
Getting away from carbon fires is not a pipe dream. In some places, renewables are already cheaper than conventional electricity. Iowa will be self-sufficient in wind power in a few years. Hillary Clinton promises a billion solar panels at the end of her first term, and enough solar for every home in America in 10 years. Corporations like Google and Amazon are using it and expecting to be100 percent green energy in a few years. General Motors and others are buying in heavily. Non-carbon energy is coming along, and gas’ true costs makes it far more expensive than the market price.
