March 1st, 2009
America's lag-time in alternative energy
I just blogged about San Francisco applying for a permit to build an offshore wave farm to generate electricity. That’s but the second step after deciding to try this tech. It’s many more steps before anything is actually placed in the Pacific. And this is San Francisco, positioned next to Silicon Valley which has been a major center of tech innovation in the U.S. since the days of the first transistor. America’s alternative energy lag is partially due to the level of energy innovation. Also, we’ve recently had a federal government that was sgtrongly pro-petroleum and not truly interested in pushing for alternatives. The amount of money spent on occupying oil-rich Iraq is huge compared to all funding that went into anything remotely related to alternative energy. So now we Yanks are behind the curve.
So where must we turn to find out what’s happening on a practical level in alternative energy? Diminutive Portugal, where wild horses and tamed wind can be found side-by-side.
Portugal alfready has a small, but still the world’s largest, functioning wave farm. It uses Pelamis floats from Scotland and the natural ups and downs of the Atlantic Ocean. Portugal has as much coastline per capita as you could desire. The coastline also provides plenty of wind power when it’s combined with Portugal’s rugged terrain. Here’s a recent summary of the move to alternative energy in Portugal. It has no oil, no coal, and was too poor back when nuclear was the non-fossil-fuel alternative. They also have a remarkably sunny climate in the southern region, similar to the American Southwest. They’re devloping plenty of solar projects. Most of this is a combo of government support and private enterprise. In the energy world Portugal reminds me of the poorer nations that went straight from no telephones to wireless Internet and cell phones.
Loading ...As you look through the work being done in Portugal you realize that the U.S. is simply not a serious player right now in global alternative energy, except as a customer. Portugal, BTW, expects to get 60% of its energy from alternative sources by 2020. Along with Denmark it will be league leader in NOT using petroleum, natural gas, or coal…and in being self-sufficient. Of course, it is a small country with a population the size of Los Angeles County and a GDP about half of the U.S.
A newsman since 1969, Harry Fuller has worked for CBS, ABC, CNBC Europe, CNET and was founding news director at TechTV. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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