|
The
20th century saw the exponential growth of population and
economies, which occurred mainly as a consequence of the mining
and use of fossil fuels, and the resulting industrial revolution.
It was not until some of the negative aspects of growth became
evident that alarm bells began to ring. That was in the middle
of the last century. Since then the global population has
multiplied by three and is now far beyond the sustainable
carrying capacity of the Earth due to the over-consumption
of resources such as energy, and the consequent damage to
the environment. It goes without saying that slowing and eventually
stopping population growth is an absolute priority, but the
process is very slow and, even with all feasible means of
energy conservation, cannot be relied upon to reduce the demand
for fossil fuels, food and other commodities in time to save
the planet.
There
are now two very urgent reasons for the replacement of fossil
fuels by sustainable non-polluting alternatives. One is that
their use at the present and projected levels threatens the
life of many species and causes catastrophic disruption to
the climate. The other is that the reserves, particularly
of gas and oil, are very limited and their availability will
decline rapidly during the next decade or two. International
disputes and war, such as that in the Middle East are an inevitable
consequence, unless alternative sources of energy are developed
and constructed in sufficient quantity. And the quantity is
huge - far, far beyond the capacity of wind farms, hydro and
solar energy to provide. And the only remaining well-developed
clean source we have is nuclear-electric, with hydrogen as
the vector for mobile applications. And time is very short.
There
can be no question that the greatest and most urgent priority
at the present time is the replacement of fossil fuels as
rapidly as possible. The nature of the industrial society
is such that it creates absolute dependence on itself and
on its growth. The monster has to be fed. That is why the
maintenance of energy supply is mandatory in the short term;
that is why simplistic calls for sudden cutbacks in energy,
which can jeopardize national and global stability, should
be ignored.
|
