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Do you agree or disagree: Renewable sources of energy (sun, water, wind) can replace fossil fuels such as gas,coal?

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Nowadays clean energy technologies are getting more and more ubiquitous, from solar power in California to hydroelectric dams in Maine, from biodiesel in Europe, to ethanol made from sugarcane in Brazil. Clean-energy fever is excellent news for everybody.

Clean-energy fever is being fuelled by three things: high oil prices, fears over energy security and a growing concern about global warming. High oil prices increase costs of raw materials and transportation thus slow down the economy. Reliance on fossil fuels of other countries also expose a society to the energy vulnerability. The nightmare of global warming will neither do us any good, instead ruining agriculture, destroying cities and wiping out animals and plants.

Alternative energy will tackle these dilemmas for all, and in the meanwhile, will prompt stupendous economic growth. The flood of investment and the advancement of technologies cuts costs of clean-energy installations, avails energy users of affordable clean energy and therefore promote the facilities' sales.  The cost of wind-power generation, for example, has come down from 8-10 cents to 3.5-4 cents per kWh since 1990 because of better turbines and higher volumes. The more money goes into the sector, the faster prices will fall.

Governments do not want to rely on faraway, unstable or downright hostile countries for oil and gas. High fossil-fuel prices make alternatives look far more affordable and attractive. As a result, media promote alternative energy as a fashion, and governments tout subsidizing it as a good way of using public money. California, for instance, will pay $2.9 billion in rebates over ten years to solar-panel-installing households and businesses, who are more than happy to be "paid" to follow the fashion of environmentalism.

Although not all investors could make a profit out of the new technologies, and admittedly the price gap between clean energy and fossil fuels still exists, polluting coal- and gas-fired power stations will eventually give way to greener alternatives such as solar and wind; fuels derived from plants and waste will supplant petrol and diesel; and small, local forms of electricity generation will replace mammoth power stations feeding far-flung grids. Fuel cells running on hydrogen will take the place of the ubiquitous internal combustion engine. It is a bold vision, but if it happens very slowly, or only to a limited extent, it will still make the world a better place.

Reliable, profitable, affordable, fashionable, what reason do we have not to embrace such a green dream?

[此贴子已经被作者于2006-11-26 11:24:57编辑过]