Commentary: One 'Holy Grail' of carbonless, cost-effective alternative energy is advanced battery power storage. When battery technology goes main stream, the return-on-investment (ROI) will be robust and swift.
Tesla, the high-tech car maker, is out front, according to a recent analysis. Considering how Tesla has mastered the gasoline-free automobile, it’s not as shocking as it is reassuring a report to ponder.
The main point is how the advancement of automotive battery technology extends well beyond cars into the built environment accounting for 40% of all energy use globally. Such a technology transfer heightens the potential for the U.S. to end its reliance on fossil fuel, making the resulting energy independence an achievable long-term goal.
In his book, Reinventing Fire, energy guru Dr. Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute documents and builds a credible case for America to free itself of its dependency on oil, coal and gasoline by the year 2050, without government involvement.
As with Tesla and the example of long-term battery storage and power, there are many other current and future scenarios that will contribute to carbonless energy production.
Nuclear fusion represents another energy-saving and energy-changing technology breakthrough.
According to a recent story published in Popular Mechanics magazine, Google is conducting a nuclear fusion project that is paying off.
“The researchers netted a 50 percent reduction in energy loss, taking us one step closer to a future of unlimited clean energy,” Popular Mechanics reported.
Unlike nuclear fission, there is no radioactivity or other dangerous by-products to handle and store after a reaction. The main problem with fusion has been the loss of high-powered plasma energy, the energizing by-product of fusion.
Fusion replicates the way the sun generates power, but its real-world application always seems to be just around the corner rather than actually happening.
Google and fusion company Tri Alpha Energy just took us one step closer to rounding that corner. After forming a partnership in 2014, the two companies just release their first major research results.
Plasma, not Petroleum
Tri Alpha has found a way to engineer a reaction fusing atoms of hydrogen into atoms of helium, making it snowball but keeping the atoms contained, which means nuclear fusion reactors could supply virtually unlimited clean energy anywhere on Earth.
They trap the plasma that is to undergo fusion using a magnetic field with an innovation known as field-reversed configuration. As the energy of the plasma gets higher, the magnetic confinement gets stronger.
The highlight is how they developed a new process to sift through the enormous amounts of data detailing plasma’s behavior in fusion reactors.
The process involves humans who input preferences into an advanced Google machine learning algorithm, and so far the system has achieved a 50 percent reduction in energy loss.
How expensive the infrastructure will be, and whether or not nuclear fusion will usher in a brave new world of unlimited power, is yet to be seen.
Considering the level of efficiency Google is realizing, the savings on fusion will far outweigh the costs of investing in it, in an immediate sense. No other form of alternative energy may be as compelling.
Maybe fusion will be more expensive to develop and implement than other forms of alternative energy like solar, wind, hydro or bio-fuels, but it’s bound to be worth it. Like the innovations we are seeing through Tesla with batteries, Google’s Tri Alpha nuclear fusion partnership has become part of a compelling call to action.
Affordable, clean alternative sources of energy will stem climate change and end the risks associated with our reliance on foreign oil.
Innovation over Legislation
Google and Tesla, like many other companies, are seizing the moment, recognizing, as Dr. Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute estimates, that if the private sector, not government, invests at least $1-trillion in new technologies, we will end our reliance on fossil fuel within 30 years.
Tesla brings us batteries that can last forever, essentially. Google delivers on nuclear fusion, without consequence. These are undeniable examples of how our energy paradigm will change, regardless of deep-seated special interests like the oil and auto industries.
With rare exceptions like the New Deal or NASA, government does not and cannot innovate to the level of profound change for the better and for the greater good. Government is gridlocked in a perpetual loop close loop of conflict of interest.
In its current state of self-interest and do-nothingness, don’t count on your government doing much of anything to change the energy landscape.
Progressive energy technology breakthroughs will happen through the only channel I know for continuous innovation: the private sector.
In a classic economic sense, it’s a new economy rendition of “laissez faire.”
Let the marketplace decide. Energy is the marketplace of our future. Companies known for innovation, and the ability to scale it globally, continue to drive change, including a world of cheaper, cleaner and less risky energy generation.
Global companies will supplant government. I made that prediction about the year 2020 in the year 2010. Maybe it’s not so far-fetched an idea; at least where the freeing forces of alternative energy point us.
Innovation is so much better than gridlocked legislation.
Richard Kadzis is a frequent KRWG Viewpoint contributor whose subject matter expertise spans corporate social responsibility, economic development, urban planning, and other sustainability issues including alternative energy development.