Energy Matters, 1/25: Why renewable electric power?

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Fossil fuel is carbon based from ancient life forms. That carbon is released to the atmosphere primarily as carbon dioxide (CO2), when the thermal energy is released by combustion of that fuel. In the US alone, an estimated 16+ million metric tons of CO2 per day are poured into our atmosphere. Over half of that is from coal consumed producing electricity. Much of the remainder is from our petroleum consuming transportation systems such as motor vehicles, aircraft, and ships. This also includes industrial and home heating systems.

It is now believed that most of the problems associated with global warming are directly related to the accumulation of CO2 in the air we breathe. It is also true that our common sources of fossil fuel are rapidly being depleted. Fuel demand is nonetheless increasing as world population increases and as huge countries like China and India move to industrialize their economies. These facts converge on the likelihood of a potentially dangerous world energy and climatic crisis by mid-century.

Is there an ultimate solution to this problem? The answer is yes. Our country and the world have little time to lose. Interim or stop gap solutions such as finding more petroleum, sequestering CO2, converting corn to ethanol, etc. are potentially shortsighted, uneconomical, environmentally unfriendly, do not produce enough energy, and are time limited.

The answer is to produce more electric power from renewable carbon free sources and to implement it quickly. The energy from such sources can replace our current electric grid. It can produce hydrogen fuel from water for our surface motor vehicle fleet. It can be used to retort oil shale for the production of synthetic petroleum for aircraft fuel production and petrochemicals. It can recharge portable batteries of electric cells. Once that power is available, it can be used as flexibly as necessary to keep our economy healthy and our country politically and militarily strong. Once we have that power, we become energy independent and free of significant CO2 emission.

What is renewable, carbon free electric power?

• it is power from wind turbines, harnessing the wind’s endless energy.

• it is power from hydroelectric dams and water turbines, energy taken from swiftly flowing rivers when available.

• it is geothermal power from steam turbines, taken from volcanic heat sources in the ground. We have huge potential in our Pacific coastal states, the Aleutian arc, and Hawaii.

• it is solar electric power taken directly from the sun’s daily energy.

• it is breeder type nuclear power, especially within our military establishment.

How much power do we need?

I estimate that we need 2 trillion watts by 2050 and 3 trillion watts by 2100. Today our grid puts out 0.5 trillion watts and is 70 percent derived from fossil fuel combustion. This leaves only 0.15 trillion watts as renewable. We need to build 1.85 trillion watts of new power plants in the next 4 decades. That is a tall order, but will do the job.

All of our effort must be aimed at producing this infrastructure. Efforts like Cape Wind are just the start. It is a small but necessary start. Europe is way ahead of us on this.

Meanwhile we actually have politicians who have opposed this. We have an outgoing governor, a former gubernatorial candidate, and a senator who have opposed it. We are lucky to have elected a governor who has a clear vision of the issues.

J. David Cohen lives on Cornell Road in Danvers. He is a retired professional engineer, license 30246, who worked at General Electric Aircraft Engines in Lynn for 45 years.