President Obama revealed in his State of the Union speech that Big Oil is getting subsidized by the US government, i.e. the tax-paying US people. Now that was news to me. I was so innocent and ignorant that it never occurred to me that one of the wealthiest and most powerful cartels in the world could get financial support from its poorest customers via the state budget. I thought that if there was anyone who did not need any subsidies, it would be the oil industry and its owners, some of the richest people on earth. Which goes to show what power can do – and I am not referring to the electric power derived from oil, but to the political power derived from financial power.
“Based on our findings, there are no technological or economic barriers to converting the entire world to clean, renewable energy sources,” Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford, said in a recent press release. “It is a question of whether we have the societal and political will.”
Political will has been difficult to come by, courtesy of the oil industry, that has blocked all progress in this field for over 100 years.
Yet, according to Professor Jacobson’s paper published in Energy Policy, not just the US’s, but the entire world’s energy needs could be met by electricity produced 90% from wind and solar sources alone. The final 10% could be generated by geothermal, hydro, wave, and tidal power. Ground transportation would be run by electricity or hydrogen fuel cells, and airplanes would be powered by liquid hydrogen. Since electricity is far more efficient than combustion, the world would see a 30% decrease in energy demand simply by switching to electric power.
In this truly revolutionary scenario, natural gas, coal, and oil would be reduced to a historical curiosity by 2050. With political will, it could have happened already.
But what about the cost? A holy cow, that in our official debate seems to take precedence over human health and wellbeing, over climate change, and over a sustainable future for the Earth and all life on it. Listening to our officious cost blockers, one sometimes gets the impression, that we must opt for the extinction of the species, rather than raising energy costs temporarily by even 10 % over present levels to save life on earth and stop our ride towards hell or oblivion. And yet, with our present energy scenario, oil costs are bound to increase by much more than 10% – perhaps even more than 50% – in the near fuiture, considering “Peak Oil” and dwindling resources, increased production costs, and dramatically accelerating demand.
But you know what? The cost scare that pretends to make it impossible to transform our energy system for several decades – if ever – even to clean energy, let alone free energy, is just another of the many red herrings thrown out by Big Oil and its profiteers to stop an evolution that would deprive it of not only trillions of dollars in income, but of its dominating financial and political influence over society. Just as the pharmaceutical industry is paying for most “scientific” studies and drug trials, custom tailored to its interests, and has most medical institutions and official experts on its paylist, the oil industry has the power and influence to plant expert views that support its own profit interests.
Professor Jacobson does not consider costs to be an issue for the transformation of the energy system to a renewable, “green” model. And yet, I understand he was only considering a transformation of the energy production within its present structure. And that means concentration to few large generators close to the power source, with transfer of electric energy over large areas. It´s a vulnerable system, and it´s not the way I see the future according to the Aquarian Paradigm.
There will still be some large producers who supply energy to nearby cities or other large concentrations of people and businesses, but the dominating tendency will be one of decentralization, where each consumer produces his own energy. This will be true of individuals and communities in the countryside, but also of industries, wherever they are located. There will therefore be less demand for power grids and long distance transfer of energy than now, and this will also influence the overall cost issue.
If you wonder how you can contribute to this energy revolution, and save yourself both money and discomfort in the long run as the Aquarian Paradigm ushers in profound changes in society, I offer a number of suggestions in my ACTION PLAN FOR SHIFTING PARADIGM. You can ask for it on the CONTACT page of this website: Just enter your name and email and write in the message space: “Please send me your Action Plan!” It´s completely free.
Till we meet again next week, be saluted with a friendly virtual hug from
DrJens
