The energy equation has two parts to it. The "Source" and the "Distribution". Electricity for sure is a better mechanism for distribution though its neither loss-less nor wireless (as mother nature). The idea of distributing the energy source (gasoline or coal) itself to the point of consumption appears so outdated and inefficient on two counts. First it consumes so much energy to move gasoline/ coal across the planet and second it takes just too much time. It will be interesting to find average energy consumed in distributing a gallon of gas v/s the energy produced by it. Isn't it amazing that even after almost two centuries since Mr Franklin discovered electricity, we are still meeting many of our energy needs thru physical distribution of source (Petro products, coal and batteries) ?
Before we address any energy issue , I think its very important to understand why we didn't fully adopt electricity as a universal means of distribution. Before we do that , lets first do a broad categorization of usage areas and status of electricity adoption ...
- Domestic (Home and street) lighting - Thanks to Mr Edison, this part is totally with electricity. Though there still are many parts of developing world where kerosene is used as a means of lighting but for academic interest , I guess will assume 99 % adoption here.
- Cooling (Home cooling and domestic/ commercial refrigeration) - Most of the cooling is electricity based. Be it a cold storage system or air conditioning , electricity is almost the standard.
- Industrial Manufacturing - Mostly with electricity though back up generation facilities are normally diesel based.
- Heating (Buildings , cars and cooking) - The story goes bad here. In most of the developing world there is no concept of heating houses or cars. As regards to cooking , people still use all sorts of fossil fuels from jungle wood , coal to LPG. Even in US heating is gas based in many parts though electricity is fast becoming standard. Car heating will remain gas based for at least near future until Toyota Prius hits more powerful battery which again means distributing the source.
- Transportation - This domain is fully with Petro Products. Be it on ground or air travel. Only exception is the railways where electric engines have mostly replaced steam / diesel engines.
Invention and adoption of electricity, at consumer as well as industrial level , as means of energy distribution , in itself is a surprising leap of innovation. Its as big an innovation (may be more) as the discovery itself. In some respects electricity is like Internet. Adoption, however, has not been as fast as any of the Google tools. It took us almost two hundred long years and even today its no where close to 100 %.
There are essentially two main hindrances to electricity adoption. First , it doesn't work well if the consumption point is moving eg cars and airplanes. With exception of Railways , most of the transportation industry is gas based. Second , the poor infrastructure in developing world. Electricity is just not available in most rural parts and wherever its available the supply is of poor quality and intermittent. Many villages in rural India get electricity once a week for 30 mins.
The other key reason for continued usage of gas in transport sector is the beauty of "Internal Combustion Engine" . Nothing really beats the flawless power gain and start of BMWs. Imagine a 16 wheel truck starts and picks up a decent 40 miles per hr in less time then Windows takes to boot fastest PC. No electric motor so far can come even close to the smoothness and maneuverability of a V8 engine.
So where do we go from here .... There are three broad objectives in front of human race
1. Our hunger of energy is going to increase exponentially. We must find more dependable sources of energy. This is matter of survival.
2. One of the way to prolong survival on existing (and future ) sources of energy , assuming no source is bottomless , is to find better means of distribution. Less losses tending towards zero is the goal.
3. Whats the point of finding limitless energy if the planet itself isn't safe. This overriding factor puts a limit on point 1 and 2. Means the source and distribution must be eco friendly.
In view of the current situation and the goals described above , we need to create a short term ( less than 5 yrs) and lon term plan (less than 15 yrs).
The short terms plan appears to be as under
- It is in interest of developed world to help poor nations achieve good electrical infrastructure. Ultimately the current resources are finite and loss of resources is loss to mankind . This needs to go beyond country specific agenda.
- It is almost imperetive for developed world to overhauld their public transport. We need electricity based mass transit systems. We need to tax those Hummers out of the road now. If you really need a car , how about driving at 30 miles per hr in a solar car. Else take a high speed tube to downtown and walk your way to office with a coffee on the way.
- We need more of wind, tidal and more of solar whereever possible. As much as possible.
- Air travel should be a costly affair. We need to leverage information technology for virtual meetings.
Howver all these measures might help us extend our survival by couple of decades but they sure can't replace our long term needs for energy. So here is the long term plan
- Nuclear is the way to go. We need start setting up safe nuclear technolgy right now so that we can harness the benefits in next decade.
- We can run cars on Hydrogen. The question is how to produce cheper Hydrogen. With widespread nuclear energy this may be possible as the cheap electricity could be used to extract hydrogen from water which in turn can fuel our futre road and air transport.
- Why can't ships carry miniature nuclear generation facilities ?
And the Nirvana , of course, if to replicate nature's fusion ina bubble and transmit energy without wires.
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