A 1963 episode of the popular television series, “The Twilight Zone,” told of a rich executive who, with no new business challenges to conquer, made a deal with the Devil to return as a young man to his childhood home in the late 19th Century and build his fortune again with the hindsight of modern knowledge.
He used the limited investment funds allowed him to buy land he knew would be a future oil field, then told the sellers how he outsmarted them. But they already knew about the oil; they also knew it couldn’t be developed with the cable-tool technology of that day. Not to be thwarted, the executive approached a blacksmith with an idea for building a rotary bit. “Sure,” said the blacksmith, “just show me the plans and specifications.” Having always exploited other people’s abilities, the executive couldn’t produce tools of the future and returned to his own time as a poor man.
That episode came to mind recently when former Vice-President Al Gore challenged the US to produce all of its electricity “from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources” in just 10 years. “Enough wind power blows through the Midwest corridor every day to meet 100% of US electricity demand,” Gore said. “Enough solar energy falls on the surface of the earth every 40 min to meet 100% of the entire world’s energy needs for a full year.”
Great idea, Al. Now show us your plans and specifications.
Join, or step aside
It’s not like hydrocarbon energy was just picked out of a pile of competitive resources to fuel the industrial age. Edwin Drake drilled the first oil well in 1859 when whales were hunted almost to extinction for their oil. At that same time, scientists and mechanics developed a method to refine crude into petroleum products including kerosine, which burned cleaner and brighter than whale oil.
In 1861, America erupted into civil war, fueling demand for heavy machinery that required more durable lubricants than the animal fat and vegetable oil previously used. When the combustion engine came later, there was nothing else readily available in such a convenient form that provided so much power so cheaply as oil. Still, that never stopped people—or even oil companies—from exploring alternatives.
The oil industry has long advocated sustainable energy programs that would tap into all available resources. And the industry’s technology and knowledge have reduced the carbon intensity of fuels. Oilmen have no problem with development of new energy sources. But it does bother them when Gore said, “Those who, for whatever reason, refuse to do their part must either be persuaded to join the effort or asked to step aside.”
For whatever reason. Sounds like a man who won’t tolerate any questions about the feasibility of his proposal.
Ocean power
Oceans cover 70% of our planet and generate tremendous energy as hurricanes frequently prove. The first patent for a wave machine to tap that power was filed in the 18th Century. Hundreds more followed, including a project in the 1970s that used an oscillating water column to power warning whistles and navigation lights on a buoy. Although the maximum efficiency was only 60%, more than a thousand of those buoys were deployed.
Since the 1980s, ambitious projects have developed to generate electrical power from waves, tides, and estuarial flows in the US, Canada, Australia, and Europe. The world’s first commercial wave farm is in Portugal. And in December 2007, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said it would build the first commercial wave-power plant off northern California, consisting of 8 buoys, 2½ miles offshore, that generate electricity as they rise and fall with the waves. The plant is slated to begin operations in 2012, generating a maximum 2 Mw to power 1,500 homes.
Yet more than 200 years of efforts have not solved all problems of tapping that “free” energy source. Analysts at Pritchard Capital Partners LLC, New Orleans, recently reported, “A Canadian energy company says it has no plans to try floating a second experimental buoy to test the potential for generating energy from ocean waves off the Oregon coast. Finavera Renewables installed a $2 million test buoy off the coast at Newport only to have the 35-ton contraption malfunction, leak, and sink.” Meanwhile, analysts said, waning interest in wave energy development has reduced the number of permit applications for such projects.