The energy crisis

[ttraub]

December 14, 2006

The solutions to America's and the world's energy shortage are not simple but they can be achieved if we have the political will to act. I see a solution consisting of some renewable and alternate energy sources, carefully applied tax incentives, and more applied research.

The U.S. has an abundance of solar energy, enough to power the world many times over if we but had the means of harnessing it. Now that someone has developed a solar cell with an efficiency of 40.7%, there exists the potential to significantly augment our electricity needs much more safely and without creating new greenhouse-contributing gases.

As a first step, all government buildings should have solar cells fitted to their rooftops. This step alone would have greatly alleviated the electricity shortage problems in California a couple of summers ago. Expanding to commercial buildings and private homes across the U.S. would generate many megawatts of power, enough to significantly decrease the need for new power stations. As hybrid electric vehicles are introduced that can be recharged overnight to reduce gasoline consumption, and as consumers continue to acquire computers, laptops, cell phones, digital cameras, and other rechargeable electronic gadgets, electrical demand will only grow, and solar cells will help the nation to absorb this growth in demand without a corresponding rise in polluting power station output.

Speaking of cars, plug-in hybrids are a promising approach to reducing urban pollution as well as gasoline consumption. People who have modified their Toyota hybrids to recharge overnight and stay in electric mode longer are achieving phenomenally low gasoline consumption, upwards of 100 mpg. These cars can run for over 30 miles on battery power, enough to satisfy the needs of the average commuter or homemaker.

The government should encourage the purchase of high mileage vehicles. In fact, I am supporting the idea of an energy tax to replace sales, capital gains, and other economically counter-productive taxes. Energy tax would be directly related to the joules per year that an individual or organization consumes. The accounting would be the trickiest part, but gasoline and electricity are already taxed centrally, so these taxes could simply be increased. While this may seem like a harsh and regressive kind of taxation, in fact every citizen will have the ability to reduce his or her energy consumption by walking, biking, taking the bus, or just by driving more economically. In fact, those who don't own cars and don't use heat and air conditioning excessively in the home will pay very little tax. A tax break for those who install solar electric and solar water heating systems should help people get over the hump of the installation cost.

The U.S. government should increase its funding of basic and applied scientific research in all areas, not least energy. A stiff tax on imported oil to encourage more domestic exploration and alternative sources should fund the research as well as defray the tax incentives bestowed on hybrid cars and solar cells.

Such bold but practical steps would bring the U.S. into energy independence in a few short years and allow it to practice a more idealistic foreign policy free of the distortions caused by imported oil.