Are alternative power sources starting to make sense yet?
Are the many alternative energy and power sources out there that scientists and politicians have been preaching about starting to make sense yet? More importantly, are they any more practical and usable than they were, say, 10 years ago? Are the next great thing in batteries or wind turbines or even nuclear power plants on the horizon yet?
As with most answers to complex questions, you could say both “yes” and “no.” The nature of mankind’s power needs and energy technology is too complex to find quick, easy solutions.
I have a son who’s a research scientist. I’ve never fully understood what he does for a living, but I do know that some of the government-funded-private-industry research he’s involved in has to do with “green” energy technologies, including the quest for better batteries to put in vehicles. To make a long story short, he says upcoming battery technology may involve such things as making storage batteries out of cloth or thin plastic substances that could be used directly in the manufacture vehicle bodies and motors. Think about that one!
He, as with any scientists I’ve spoken with or heard about, agrees that technology has a long, long way to go if we’re going to replace dependence on fossil fuels, whether we’re talking about vehicles or power plants.
We may some day be able to drive across country and light our homes without any reliance on fossil fuels. But that “some day” probably is a few decades away at the earliest. Good to know we’re making the journey, though.