Investing in the future
March 12th, 2010 at 10:03 amA letter-writer in the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram recently chastised “Green fanatics” with all of the usual arguments, including the idea that those investing in alternative energy now are wasting their money. Here is my reply:
“Green fanatics wrong” (Voice of the People, Saturday, Feb. 27) is a wonderful example of using accurate data to reach a questionable conclusion. Jeff Nicol is right about the current high initial cost of wind and solar power, and other facts, but he ignores a lot of relevant information that’s essential to making a wise decision.
The efficiency of solar cells has increased more than fourfold in just the last five years. Even so, as of now, only 14 percent of the photons that strike a photovoltaic cell are converted to electricity. If Moore’s Law (which states that the number of transistors on a chip doubles about every two years) has any application whatsoever to alternative energy — and it certainly does — the potential for solar power is enormous.
One reason Moore’s Law works is because early adaptors made use of microprocessor chips even when they weren’t “affordable.”
The first pocket calculators became available in 1972 (Hewlet-Packard’s HP-35). The price was $395 — more than $2,000 in today’s money.
Now we take pocket calculators for granted, and most kids (for me, that’s anyone under 50) have never seen nor used a 35-pound hand-cranked desk calculator, much less a slide rule. Even more astounding, today you can get a multi-functional Casio SL200-TE for under $10!
And please note, Mr. Nicol: it’s solar-powered.
Yes, as he points out, we do need fossil fuels — nonrenewable resources — to develop and produce new products. “Nonrenewable” means we will eventually and inevitably run out of them. It will be impossible to develop new and sustainable technologies using the last drop of oil or pound of coal, which is why we must act now.
Mr. Nicol calls for more common sense in the world. I wholeheartedly agree. However, I would add the caution that a little knowledge can be dangerous. Mr. Nicol, who “did a little research on the Internet recently,” has a different perspective than I do. My first wind and solar installations were more than 35 years ago, and I recently spent six months researching and writing The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Self-Sufficient Living, which involves many aspects of sustainability — food, water, clothing, shelter and transportation, as well as energy and more.
In other words, to answer Mr. Nicol’s rhetorical question, I’m one of many Green fanatics who knows exactly what he’s supporting. As for “pushing” our agenda on others, as he puts it, consider this:
We’re investing in the nascent technology the skeptics consider uneconomical. As with the electronic calculator, this supports innovation, mass production, and lower costs that will eventually affect even the naysayers. So I don’t see us pushing them. We’re dragging them, kicking and screaming, into a sustainable future.
— Jd Belanger
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