The Great Transition

Due to my fascination with conserving energy and using renewable resources, I decided to read The Great Transition: Shifting From Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy, written by Lester R. Brown with Janet Larsen, J. Matthew Roney, and Emily E. Adams. It is extremely refreshing to be reading a more positive and hopeful side of our response to climate change, and the first portion of this book gives much promise to steps already being taken in regards to solar and wind energy. I love the idea of getting power from natural resources that are incredibly easy to obtain when the right installations are made in the right locations.

It seems as though oil and coal use is on the decline. According to Brown, "coal use dropped 18 percent from 2007 to 2013 as scores of coal-fired power plants closed" (7). A large portion of recently added (since 2010) coal plants are out of operation, about 35 percent. The United States in particular has also started to increase its reliance on natural gas, due to some recent significant discoveries that are contributing to the decline of coal use. Oil is becoming more difficult to obtain, as many reserves are having to look deeper for those rich deposits. As the book puts it, the "low-hanging fruit in the oil sector has already been picked," leaving a more problematic future for oil companies (11). Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and Shell have been putting forth billions of dollars trying to increase production, such as investing in oil resources in Alaska; despite these efforts, they are still projecting large drops in profits over the next few decades. They may have to reduce their scale and try to avoid growth from their already massive size. It looks like nuclear power plants may not be a great solution, either. "Electricity from new nuclear power plants can cost twice as much as solar- and wind-generated electricity" (13).

On the other hand, wind and solar investments are becoming easier and easier. Many European countries get a significant portion of their electricity from these methods. While France uses much of its nuclear power, it is also in the process of installing 25000 megawatts worth of electricity-generating wind turbines. China is working to have about 90000 (15). Wind farms are quick to install (about 1 year) and simple solar panels on rooftops can be in place in a few days. Nuclear power plants take about a decade to install. Even China, which is now the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, is currently adopting sustainable ways to produce energy for its people, and that is encouraging to me. As the green technology continues to decline in price, it will begin to take over. The rate of use is increasing fairly slow but steadily. What excites me is the fact that wind and solar energy is not going to die off (perhaps unless the sun dies, which won't be for a while). Hopefully, people can learn to save some energy in simple ways that aren't going to change their lifestyles.