The energy crisis
by Terry Traub
December 14, 2006
The solutions to America's and the world's energy shortage are not simple but
they can be achieved if we have the political will to act. I see a solution
consisting of some renewable and alternate energy sources, carefully applied
tax incentives, and more applied research.
The U.S. has an abundance of solar energy, enough to power the world many times
over if we but had the means of harnessing it. Now that someone has developed
a solar cell with an efficiency of
40.7%, there exists the potential to significantly augment our electricity
needs much more safely and without creating new greenhouse-contributing gases.
As a first step, all government buildings should have solar cells fitted to
their rooftops. This step alone would have greatly alleviated the electricity
shortage problems in California a couple of summers ago. Expanding to
commercial buildings and private homes across the U.S. would generate many
megawatts of power, enough to significantly decrease the need for new power
stations. As hybrid electric vehicles are introduced that
can be recharged overnight to reduce gasoline consumption, and as consumers
continue to acquire computers, laptops, cell phones, digital cameras, and other
rechargeable electronic gadgets, electrical demand will only grow, and solar
cells will help the nation to absorb this growth in demand without a
corresponding rise in polluting power station output.
Speaking of cars, plug-in hybrids are a promising approach to reducing urban
pollution as well as gasoline consumption. People who have
modified their Toyota hybrids to recharge overnight and stay in electric
mode longer are achieving phenomenally low gasoline consumption, upwards of 100
mpg. These cars can run for over 30 miles on battery power, enough to satisfy
the needs of the average commuter or homemaker.
The government should encourage the purchase of high mileage vehicles. In
fact, I am supporting the idea of an energy tax to replace sales, capital
gains, and other economically counter-productive taxes. Energy tax would be
directly related to the joules per year that an individual or organization
consumes. The accounting would be the trickiest part, but gasoline and
electricity are already taxed centrally, so these taxes could simply be
increased. While this may seem like a harsh and regressive kind of taxation,
in fact every citizen will have the ability to reduce his or her energy
consumption by walking, biking, taking the bus, or just by driving more
economically. In fact, those who don't own cars and don't use heat and air
conditioning excessively in the home will pay very little tax. A tax break for
those who install solar electric and solar water heating systems should help
people get over the hump of the installation cost.
The U.S. government should increase its funding of basic and applied scientific
research in all areas, not least energy. A stiff tax on imported oil to
encourage more domestic exploration and alternative sources should fund the
research as well as defray the tax incentives bestowed on hybrid cars and solar
cells.
Such bold but practical steps would bring the U.S. into energy independence in
a few short years and allow it to practice a more idealistic foreign policy
free of the distortions caused by imported oil.
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