Alternative Energy

With the huge mess in the Gulf, as well as the spill in China and the Mississippi River, it seems like a great time to seriously look at alternative energy sources. Actually I've been interested in this for a long time, but I'm going to write about it today.

I think that with all the brain power out there it should be possible to come up with new ways to power our cars and houses. There has been some work in this direction. Look at the increased use of corn to make bio-fuels. Of course this depletes the world's food source. Why not use kudzu which is completely useless and grows 14 inches a day?

It seems like with every new form of energy the exclusive problem of making them mainstream is the cost and availability. I know I have looked at the Honda FCX Clarity which seems like a great way to go in terms of the environment, but if you don't live in So. California you're out of luck. Even then there are a limited amount of them.

Several times I have looked into solar panels for our house. After all we have quite a bit of sunshine here. But the cost is so high that it makes it impossible for the Average Joe to have them installed.

Last  night I watched a progam that mentioned the possibility of using helium 3 from the moon for energy. How exciting! and expensive! Who would fund this project even if it would benefit the whole world? Probably no one.

So what is behind this halt in innovation? I believe that it's oil. We live in such a selfish society that anyone who has a finger in the big oil pie is not about to pull it out to invest in an alternate energy source (I mean more than just the small feel good projects they invest in so they can make a PR commercial about it.). I'm sure that coal industry is also part of the problem.

I was thinking about the Native Americans who lived in this area 10-12,000 years ago. They worked together to further the well-being of their entire community without regard to individual gain. With all the evolution that's supposedly been going on in that time, how many of us can claim the same?