Here we are again, starting a war about oil. It’s what we have done in the recent past; it provoked a reaction then and it is provocative now. The evidence of that reaction is in the jump in EV sales (everywhere but the U.S.), and the increase in demand for solar and wind, especially in the EU. While all this is going on it is good to take a look at what progress we have made because it is a real indicator of where we are heading. In 2001 in the wake of the war on Iraq (for oil) we installed our first grid-tied residential PV system. The following images show what has changed.
There won’t be blood for solar energy. Nothing stops the sun from providing real power to an increasing number of people, and it’s a hot topic as the ugliness of our addiction to fossil fuels impacts lives and economies worldwide. The remoteness of crude oil reserves on which the world depends is completely masked by our elaborate schemes to deliver that fuel until the Strait of Hormuz, or some other choke point is closed. The world has noticed.
Solar energy is relentless, providing nearly the same amount of energy to the earth year after year, without drilling and mining year after year. That difference is becoming increasingly apparent, as is the HUGE disparity between the efficiency of internal combustion engines and electric motors. EV sales around the globe are up and Chinese producers are there with many excellent models to offer. In almost every place where EV’s proliferate, the local economy improves because money for gas and diesel stays home and only pays for electricity. The price for that electricity is relatively stable compared to gasoline at the pump:
The road ahead is rocky for fossil fuels but increasingly smooth for electrification by renewable sources. Let’s stay on track.
-Jeremy Smithson, Founder