I can’t help but feel, when it comes to sustainable energy, that there isn’t something behind-the-scenes holding us back. Hydrogen technology exists, efficient methods of hydrogen extraction are well underway, so why isn’t the practice more wide-spread?
I agree that the companies that are making a ton of money off of fossil fuels are likely to be lobbying against policies that would cost them profits.
There is also an inertia. All those existing gas stations do after all exist, and the stations that would provide plug in power for electric cars still have to be built.
But we also have not yet made the investments needed to make alternative energies as cost-effective as the need to be and eventually will be.
Exactly. Ultimately, that’s the point I’m trying to make: there is inertia, certainly, but I wonder how much of that is difficulty in developing alternative fuel and how much is lobby-enforced market stubbornness.
I can’t imagine, considering gasoline stations are self-contained, that it would be terribly difficult or expensive to convert them to supplying another fuel type.
Still iffy on electric though. In my hometown, most people live 40+ miles from their jobs. I watched the British Top Gear where they tested electric cars, and 40 to 60 miles was the most some of those cars went before needing recharging. In a cold climate like mine where winters can get to be 20 below, batteries might drain even more quickly. Either cars need to last longer, or it would force employers to have to pay for charging stations and some simply don't have the money for that.
3 comments:
I can’t help but feel, when it comes to sustainable energy, that there isn’t something behind-the-scenes holding us back. Hydrogen technology exists, efficient methods of hydrogen extraction are well underway, so why isn’t the practice more wide-spread?
I agree that the companies that are making a ton of money off of fossil fuels are likely to be lobbying against policies that would cost them profits.
There is also an inertia. All those existing gas stations do after all exist, and the stations that would provide plug in power for electric cars still have to be built.
But we also have not yet made the investments needed to make alternative energies as cost-effective as the need to be and eventually will be.
Exactly. Ultimately, that’s the point I’m trying to make: there is inertia, certainly, but I wonder how much of that is difficulty in developing alternative fuel and how much is lobby-enforced market stubbornness.
I can’t imagine, considering gasoline stations are self-contained, that it would be terribly difficult or expensive to convert them to supplying another fuel type.
Still iffy on electric though. In my hometown, most people live 40+ miles from their jobs. I watched the British Top Gear where they tested electric cars, and 40 to 60 miles was the most some of those cars went before needing recharging. In a cold climate like mine where winters can get to be 20 below, batteries might drain even more quickly. Either cars need to last longer, or it would force employers to have to pay for charging stations and some simply don't have the money for that.
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