More on energy policy...

Winning the battle over energy and climate change is going to be not only hard work, but complex. We’re going to need to do a dozen things at once, most of them painful and disruptive.

Infrastructure is going to hurt our wallets. Already a lot of our infrastructure is aging. Building a grid to carry power from wind and solar farms to cities will cost perhaps 60 to 400 billion, but it will also save more than 100 billion a year which is currently being lost from the old system, and it’s a steal if it lasts for 40 years or so. It means wind turbines, solar panels, recharging stations, two-way transmission wires, intelligent power meters, a lot of hardware. We will need to find capital and private-sector people to start taking initiative; wind turbines, for example, are built in a few places in Germany, Spain and Denmark. Remember, a lot of it is one-time pain.

There are a hundred little things we can do across the board: CFL bulbs, programmable thermostats, furnace and air conditioning filters, eco-friendly appliances, water heater blankets, low-flow showerheads, clotheslines, turning off lights, insulation. There could be a lot of jobs rehabilitating buildings to make the efficient. Schools, business, stores and factories need to rehab too, particularly all that lighting; when we shop, buy local foods rather than frozen, eat less meat, and go for the brands that use the least packaging. On the road: carpool, tune up the car, inflate the tires. We may need to go whole hog and use the recycling and rationing methods of WWII; recycling in just a few areas, like cars and computers, could help immensely. Ultimately we will need to greatly ramp up recycling anyway, not only because of the mounds of trash but also because of the wasted resources.

Part of Obama’s economic plan involves rebuilding infrastructure, weatherizing schools and federal buildings, replacing heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs.

The Big Three have known for 30 years that we need hybrids and other fuel-efficient cars, something up toward 100mpg. As the developing world becomes more affluent, we will need those hybrids and electrics, or the carbon problem will really explode. A firm called Tesla is turning out cars that get 200 miles on a charge and gets up to 60mph in 4 seconds, but it costs $100,000 and the first 40 were flawed; the firm is run by amateurs who made a lot of mistakes. Other problems along the way: making the new technologies practical for trucks, figuring out whether it is practical to set up refuelling stations for hydrogen-based cars, and urging the aviation industry to keep moving on cleaner, more efficient aircraft too. Is there any way in the world to make carbon-free aircraft – in a cost-effective way?

If we can make hybrid cars practical across the economy, then we avoid a lot of problems (to include removing the fear of being stranded with a dead battery). But what can we do, do reduce our reliance on cars and trucks? A big part of it is urban planning. European cities are liveable without a car (in fact they ban cars in some areas and tax them in others). But American cities are designed with cars in mind, and suburbs even more so. Workplaces and workers will move closer together; Factories and workers will move closer to resources and supply chains, and stores. People will drive to malls less, and take bikes and little shopping wagons to stores selling products in smaller packages – food shopping will be a pain. People will walk more, lose weight, interact with their neighbours (good thing or bad?). The disabled will have new challenges.

Some migratory patterns of the 20th century may be reversed: the folks who moved south and west because of affordable air conditioning may move back to the ice belt – unless heating costs also spike. Whites will move back into the cities and use more public transport (buses use existing infrastructure; trains don’t). And airlines will lose money to Amtrak.

Some will be the losers in the new economy; who deserves help, and how much? Oil firms, Geico, Firestone, Meineke, drive-thrus, used car salesmen, garage mechanics. On the plus side, alcohol-related auto fatalities would drop like a rock.


So the solution seems to be setting up solar farms and wind farms and building a new grid to connect to it; then build hybrid cars, conserve energy, and lean on people like the Chinese to do the same.


The weak link in many of these efforts will be batteries. We need them for cars, gadgets, and for solar and wind farms. Lithium is light but expensive and it can overheat. Because batteries involve chemical processes, there is only so much progress to be made; researchers are working on nanotechnology and nanophosphates to lower voltage. GE and Exxon are working on new technologies. To store solar and wind power, utilities are experimenting with sodium-sulfur batteries that are the size of tractor-trailers. Optimists envision a day when your electric car helps store the power generated by your rooftop solar panels, with many homeowners selling homegrown electricity back to the utility companies over the grid.

If they can solve the battery problem, Toyota’s exploration of the all-solar car might be more practical.