Last month Scientific American published an interesting article on a grand plan to replace most of America’s energy sources through the use of large scale solar energy. After reading it, I would say that it is quite realistic and feasible.
The biggest obstacle is the cost: 420 billion dollars over 40 years. But then again it is not that much when you consider that the war in Iraq has already cost more than that in less than 5 years, and the subsidies to the oil industry, depending on whose figures you use, are somewhere between $10B and $35B a year.
Things get even better if you start counting the savings from reduced energy prices (oil prices will keep climbing), the savings from not needing to build expensive nuclear plants and “clean” coal plants with CO2 sequestration, the savings from using much more efficient electrical motors (90% vs 20-25% for internal combustion engines), the reduction in the need to refine and distribute petroleum-based fuels, the savings from returning crop lands to food production, and the lower cost of health care and clean-up activities from reduced pollution.
They also talk of the creation of 3 million jobs to create and support these new industries.
Sounds like a winning solution to me!
