I have done my share of grumbling about the environmental costs of energy production, but I understand that environmental considerations are not the only factor in choosing energy sources. Utilities must make business decisions, taking into consideration the safety of their investment in energy resources. Conventionally, nonrenewable energy sources have been the best bet. However, I will show that renewable energy sources are rapidly becoming the better economical decision.
"[Oil] is the dominant source of energy for the entire world," says environmental author Michael Potts. "...The world now relies on oil-based fuels for about 90 percent of its energy for transportation..."1 America is certainly no exception to the rule of oil dependence, looking to oil for 41% of its total energy.2 What makes our oil dependence even worse economically, though, is the fact that most of the oil we use is imported. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that imports of petroleum accounted for more than 50% of the total U.S. trade deficit from November 2007 to October 2009, and that the dollar value for oil imports, reported on a chain-weighted 2005 dollar basis (blue line on the graph below), has ranged between $15 and $24 billion monthly since 2003.3
Our dependence on foreign oil is streaming hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars out of the country every day.4 Another problem with dependence on foreign oil surfaced during the 1970s when OPEC initiated an oil embargo on the U.S. and other western nations. Over the course of three months (January to March, 1974), the price of oil exploded from $3.0111 to $11.651 per barrel.5 Of course, we could attempt to protect those assets by war, which is what some authors suggest we are doing in Iraq.6,7 But, if we are going to war to protect our oil, how much are we really paying to maintain our oil addiction? We shell out billions a month for the oil itself, but how much more for the military budget to obtain and protect it? Fossil fuels are geopolitically restricted, but renewables are available everywhere.8 Shifting from a foreign oil-based economy to a domestic renewable-based economy would be a significantly stabilizing economic move.
But how stable is an oil-based economy in the first place, even if it were entirely domestic? According to Richard Wright, Ph.D., textbook author and professor of biology, crude oil, coal, and natural gas (the "fossil fuels") provide 83.5% of the energy used in America.9
The problem with that is that each of those resources is what is known as a nonrenewable resource-a resource that is not currently being replenished. All nonrenewable resources are plagued by one major problem: they will inevitably run out. "Fossil fuels are over," environmental author Christopher Swan says. "Further development of oil, natural gas or coal resources represents scraping the bottom of the barrel, all to sustain outmoded technologies. Oil and natural gas are rapidly diminishing in supply, with some experts suggesting we'll reach peak oil output globally around 2007; other say 2015-it's a crap shoot. Peaking means the supply is declining steadily, and price is likely to rise steadily. Natural gas production is expected to peak and begin declining in roughly the same time period. We can resort to tar sands and oil shale, extracting crude at a higher cost and trashing landscapes at the same time, or we can grow grains for ethanol and almost certainly trash much of what's left of rainforests. These options merely sustain the unsustainable." (emphasis added)10 Opinions on when oil and natural gas production will peak and start to decline may vary, but there is no argument that they will last indefinitely. U.S. Coal reserves may be projected to last 250 years, but they will run out eventually. The question is not if they will run out, but when, and how we should prepare for that time. One option is to continue living in dependence on fossil fuels until they run out and try to find a way to fix our broken society then. Another option is to start investing in renewable energy now, making the transition away from fossil fuels and into sustainability. If we transition then, we will see perhaps the worst recession in our history. If we transition now, our economy will survive the oil crash.
On a more positive note, we can look to renewable energy sources now to start to stabilize and improve our economy. If we could redirect the billions that are currently leaving the country to import oil to development and implementation of renewable energy technology, we could meet America's energy needs while recirculating our money in our country. "We at the Union of Concerned Scientists believe that technologies for harvesting renewable energy-including photovoltaics, solar heating devices, wind and hydroelectric turbines, and biomass generators-are already affordable, effective, and reliable enough to be used on a huge scale in the United States," says Nancy Cole, director of public outreach for the Union of Concerned Scientists.11 Indeed, the technologies are out there-and being improved and refined constantly. As advancements are made in each field of renewable energy, the technology becomes more affordable and more efficient, becoming more and more cost-competitive with fossil fuels.12,13,14,15 As the price of gas continues to rise steadily, American consumers will once again turn to sustainable renewable energy technology rather than pay through their noses at the pump. The wise investor will be prepared for this surge in interest in renewable energy.
An objective perspective on the issue of investment in energy sources selects renewable energy sources as the more economically sound and stable option. When one considers the oil trade deficit, the fragile future of fossil fuels, and the constantly improving renewable energy technology, the obvious choice for investment and the security of our economic future is found in renewable energy.
Kenton Sena
Endnotes
1. Potts, Michael. The New Independent Home. Chelsea Green Publishing Company: White River Junction, Vermont, 1999. pg 28
2. Chiras, Dan. The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy. New Society Publishers: Gabriola Island, BC, Canada, 2006. pg 5
3. US Census Bureau Petroleum Imports Statistics. http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/graphs/PetroleumImports.html updated 12/10/09 (accessed 12/29/09)
4. Potts, 36
5. Ibid, 26-27
6. Wright, Richard. Environmental Science, 9th ed. Pearson Education, Inc.,: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2005. pg 336
7. Schaeffer, John. Solar Living Source Book, 12th ed. New Society Publishers: 2005. pg 389
8. Craddock, David. Renewable Energy Made Easy. Ocala, FL: Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc., 2008. pg 17-18
9. Wright, 326
10. Swan, Christopher C. Electric Water: the emerging revolution in water and energy. New Society Pubilshers: Gabriola Island, BC, Canada, 2007. pg 58
11. Cole, Nancy, and P.J. Skerrett. Renewables are Ready. Chelsea Green Publishing Company: White River Junction, Vermont, 1995. pg xi
12. Craddock, 46
13. Bridgewater, Alan and Gill. Renewable Energy for Your Home. Ulysses Press: Berkeley, CA, 2009. pgs 51, 56, 75
14. Schaeffer, 45
15. Cole, 4-5
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