OneWorld.net (U.S.)

Scientists have long documented a global warming trend due to excessive carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels—oil, coal, and natural gas. With temperatures rising, the price of oil above $50 a barrel, and political instability in the Middle East on the rise, we need a new—and more independent—energy strategy.

© Refugees InternationalFortunately, such a strategy is possible with the recent development of two new technologies, gas-electric hybrid engines and advanced-design wind turbines. If over the next decade, for example, the United States converted its automobile fleet to gas-electric hybrids with the efficiency of today’s Toyota Prius, we could cut our gasoline use in half and begin to wean ourselves from imported oil.

With gas-electric hybrid cars already on the market, the stage is set to further reduce oil dependence by using wind-generated electricity to power automobiles. If we add to the gas-electric hybrid a plug-in capacity and a second battery, motorists could do their commuting, shopping, and other short-distance travel largely with electricity. This could reduce gasoline use by an additional 20 percent, for a 70 percent total reduction.

Plug-in hybrid cars could make use of the country’s vast, largely untapped wind resources. In 1991, the U.S. Department of Energy determined that three states—Kansas, North Dakota and Texas—have enough harnessable wind energy to satisfy national electricity needs. Today’s technologies that enable turbines to operate at lower wind speeds and convert wind into electricity more efficiently make wind an even more impressive option. Though Europe has taken the lead in wind production, some 24 states in the U.S., where the modern wind industry was born, now have commercial-scale wind farms feeding electricity into a national electric grid. Still, the share is small, with wind accounting for less than a third of one percent of the nation’s total electricity use.

Despite the infancy of the industry, there are many reasons why we should move ahead with wind power. Wind is cheap, abundant, inexhaustible, widely distributed, clean, and climate-benign—attributes that no other energy source can match. The cost of wind-generated electricity has dropped dramatically over the last two decades. Early wind farms generated electricity at a cost of 38¢ per kilowatt-hour. Now, many wind farms are producing power at 4¢ per kilowatt-hour. And the price is still falling.

Unlike the widely-discussed fuel cell/hydrogen transportation model, the gas-electric hybrid/wind model does not require a costly new infrastructure. The network of gasoline service stations is already in place. So, too, is the electricity grid needed to link wind farms to the storage batteries in cars.

The U.S. government has invested in developing hydrogen fuel cells as a carrier of energy, but this technology will not be mass-marketed for years to come. Moving to the highly efficient gas-electric hybrids with a plug-in capacity is a currently available and feasible transitional technology. Citizens can advocate for these options by encouraging elected representatives to support tax credits for renewables.

In sum, developing these alternatives would give us the energy security that has eluded us for three decades, would bolster rural economies, and would significantly reduce carbon emissions and slow global warming. Along with other organizations and companies, the Earth Policy Institute is working to explore these more environmentally sustainable options.

Lester R. Brown President and Founder, Earth Policy Institute