Electric Cars
I must admit, all these announcements for electric cars in 2010 has me quite excited (I have seen announcements from Nissan, VW, GM and Mercedes all claiming to have limited supplies of cars available by 2010). However, it causes me to think a bit more deeply about the source of power used to charge these vehicles. What good is an electric vehicle if the power company still uses 98% fossil fuel burning to provide your home with electricity?
The energy problems go deeper than purchasing an electric car. There must be some open market incentive for the power companies to invest in environmentally friendly, renewable energy sources. Two and three-fold increases in oil prices, while certainly influential, have not really begun to instill true change in the modus operandi of these huge corporations.
Or is the more viable solution stricter government regulation? I guess only time will tell (America will certainly be sharing its opinion on this issue [amongst others] in November).
This got me thinking. I applaud the car companies for making this transition. Electric cars truly are feasible today, and they are taking those first steps to make the change. I think Mercedes has even said they’re trying to be completely rid of fossil fuel engines by 2015 which is pretty amazing. The car companies are moving ahead of the curve, the electricity sources are out of their hands, but still, I applaud them.
It is time for others to step up though. I don’t think government regulation is the answer. Market forces are already significantly influencing the market. Solar is becoming more affordable, and the technology advances in leaps and bounds everyday. What we need is better acceptance, more private investment, a national energy network that is easy to tie new forms of energy production into, and most importantly, higher oil prices. If oil keeps getting more expensive (and it seems it will), then the changes will happen.
That being said, I am glad that our government is open to the possibility of nuclear again. Solar is great, wind is okay, and biofuels still seem like a bad idea to me, but nuclear is proven and safer than ever. The important thing about nuclear is that we could build it today and know that we would get a good return on investment.
I would love for us to have electric cars, some nuclear power plants tomorrow, and a whole lot more solar in the future (plus wind in very windy areas and tidal on coasts).
