As one reads the editorials of June 1—on the mind-numbing subsidies for renewable energy—and June 9—on the costs of “cap and trade” and “energy reform that will asphyxiate itself with unreasonable ambition and government excess,” plus the note in the commentary on the likelihood of any benefits being allocated “on the basis of political favoritism,” a sense of absolute gloom and doom emerges (OGJ, June 1, 2009, p. 18; June 8, p. 18). It would seem that this administration is forcing our energy system towards a crash landing of unprecedented proportions.
Today, we hear much about the danger of fossil fuels, particularly coal. The alarmists, in their efforts to do to coal what they have done to nuclear energy, have now painted coal as the pariah of all energy sources. Oil is not treated much better.
I have recently written on an analogy between a crash landing in the desert and in our energy situation today. The title is “The Flight of the Phoenix Revisited.” The subtitle is “We Can Live with a Fossil Fuel World–Oil, Gas, Coal and Shale Oil.” This essay is available at www.CO2science.org/articles/V12/N16/EDIT.php.
This essay is a fairly complete situation review of most energy sources. Conclusions reached include:
- While alternative energy sources can make a contribution, they will not be the solution to our current crisis; we will be using fossil fuels for decades to come.
- The pathway to price security is to reduce our call on global oil via a boost in our conventional supplies of domestic oil and gas via an expanded use of coal, via a start on shale oil, via an improvement in electric vehicles and their necessary electric supply, and via more efficiency and conservation.
- The massive expansion of nuclear power proposed by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is seen as desirable but highly unlikely.
- The most encouraging research area is the development of high energy-density batteries.
- The most discouraging commercial area is the incredible support and subsidies for corn-based ethanol.
- The climate change situation in regards to fossil fuel use, is manageable, and the need to move to a carbon-constrained society is premature at best.
- The environmental situation with coal is manageable, a judgment based in part on my lifetime exposure to coal and in part on the improvements in emissions control over the past 40 years.
This essay also reviews, as food for thought, my rather detailed, 76-year exposure to coal dust, heavy oils, and toxic chemicals and leads to the question: Could the nightmare painted on fossil fuels just be overstated a bit?
Gerald T. Westbrook
Houston
