Why Go Green?

by Wayne White



It seems like were being bombarded every day with articles about the latest
discoveries in wind power, biofuel, solar energy, or battery technology for electric
vehicles. But even with the boat load of great ideas and discoveries, many
people today ask, Why go green? Some say green technology is a waste of
time when we keep discovering new oil deposits, the United States is the worlds largest
producer of natural gas (1) and many of the technologies are costly or dont produce as much
energy as they take to produce. Are we just spinning our wheels when we have plenty of oil and
natural gas to satisfy our needs for the foreseeable future?

Personally, I dont feel like we should just sit on our hands and wait until the last minute
to nd a substitute for oil or coal. Even if these technologies arent producing results that rival
the effectiveness of fossil fuels, they are getting better every day. And every new solar panel
that is placed on someones home, every windmill that is erected, every new battery dropped
into an electric car, and every new biofuel that is developed is a step towards cleaning up the
environment, reducing greenhouse gasses, our dependency on foreign oil and the price of oil
that we may still need to use in the future.

It seems a bit unfair to compare oil technology to green technology. The oil industry has
about a 100 year head start on many of these technologies (2), and to expect them to step up to
bat and hit a home run in their rst at-bat is unrealistic. Even though some of these
technologies have been around for years, these technologies are still in their infant stages, as
most havent been seriously considered or studied until just a few decades ago. Cost is still
high and efciency is not as ideal as competing energy sources such as oil, coal or natural gas.
But in due time, with further development and mass production, these technologies can become
major players in the energy game.

Take biofuel for example. One of the main arguments against biofuel is that it requires
more fossil energy to make than it produces (3). Although this is currently true, the technology
is improving constantly, its becoming cheaper to produce, and the costs are dropping quicker
than expected. Plus, it burns cleaner than oil products, so coal burning power plants could go
the way of the dinosaur (how ironic!) and be replaced by biofuel burning power plants. Also,
with the advancements of using algae as a biofuel, issues such as land use and food reduction
can be eliminated (4).

If youve driven along I-90 around Ellensburg on your way to the
Columbia River, youve probably seen a wind farm or two. The Wild
Horse Wind and Solar Facility has 149 turbines on its 10,000 acres,
and can generate enough electricity to serve more than 80,000
homes (5).
But yet its still not enough to satisfy the nay sayers. Some
complain that wind power isnt reliable since the wind doesnt always
blow, or that it can interfere with radar signals, or that it has killed
some birds, or heaven
forbid, they are an
eyesore!
Certainly they arent
a sight for sore eyes,
but considering they
provide a clean
source of renewable
energy, and technology over the last 3-4 decades
has increased wind turbine efciency by 30-40
times (7), I would much prefer seeing these on my
drive than what the people of Beijing see on their
drives (spoiler alert they cant see much of
anything due to smog).its

One of the earliest players in the energy saving game was solar energy. Some of the
complaints about solar panels are that they dont produce a lot of power, installing them on your
home can be quite expensive, and they arent always producing energy (when its dark or
cloudy). But the fact of the matter is, many people using solar power can produce more energy
than they need, tax incentives can greatly reduce the cost of installation, and over the last 15
years, crystalline silicon solar cells have improved their
efciencies by over 50% (6).

And if that doesnt oat your boat, how about a
road made out of solar cells? Check out this link to see
an idea with enough potential to power the whole United
States! http://www.solarroadways.com/intro.shtml

At the very least, people need to stop being so
short sighted. These technologies are still in their
infancy, and as techniques become perfected,
efciencies will increase and costs will be reduced.
Algae today can become tomorrows gasoline. A wind

Wild Horse Wind and
Solar Facility
courtesy pse.com
Beijing, China
photo courtesy www.reuters.com

Artist rendition of moose crossing solar
roadway. photo courtesy
www.hufngtonpost.ca
and solar farm can be tomorrows coal power plant. Even if one of these technologies doesnt
replace coal, oil or natural gas, they certainly can be use to compliment some of our nite
resources. What would be wrong with using wind power to supply power to homes, solar power
to heat your water and supply extra power as needed, and biofuel to burn in your power plants?
If you need to use oil or natural gas it will still be there and will better stand the test of time than
if we use these fossil fuels exclusively.


References:
1) http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=13251

2) http://www.superconsciousness.com/topics/environment/brief-history-oil

3) http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2005/07/ethanol-biodiesel-corn-and-other-crops-not-
worth-energy

4) http://timesondia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Algae-biofuel-may-solve-energy-crisis/
articleshow/35649641.cms

5) http://pse.com/inyourcommunity/kittitas/Pages/Wild-Horse.aspx

6) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927024800000726