The Future Looks Green.
Photo by Rory Finneren
I recently read an article in Popular Science how in the near future we may be able to grow biodegradable plastic from Switchgrass. Plastic does wonders for consumer products with only a couple of minor drawbacks. It’s made from petroleum products, and lasts for centuries in the land fill. Well perhaps these are not minor, and I’m pretty sure three hundred years from now a little kid will be pretty dissapointed about finding a plastic spoon in their back yard instead of a civil war button or coin. “Hey dad look, an early 21st century Dixie!”
Plastic is harvested in the field as a finished product rather than created in the factory with petroleum products. This saves a significant amount of energy and all the leftover Switchgrass can then be used to create Biofuel. Very exciting indeed.
Also in Popular Science is a wind turbine that brings me one step closer to producing my own energy. The Mariah Power Windspire is the first to capture breezes at 30 feet or below and can start in slow winds without the help of a motor. Combine this with solar power on the roof, A chevy Volt in the garage and I’m set to go.
5 Comments so far
Nate,
I too am excited about new “free” forms of energy. However, I feel we must be cautious in how we incorporate them into our infrastructure. As we’ve seen with the recent push to use corn products as fuel it has had a dramatic affect on our beef prices and has contributed to food shortages in the rest of the world. I do not believe burning food for fuel is sustainable practice. One can argue that switch grass isn’t food for humans, but it takes farm / ranch land to grow and will have an affect on food supplies.
Unless our battery technology improves dramatically I don’t think wind and solar will be able to totally supplant hydro-electric, oil, coal, or natural gas. They are not reliable energy sources.
Keep up the great posts.
Zac
Actually, concentrated solar energy plants are capable of producing electricity on the same scale of traditional coal and natty gas plants without the need for storing energy in batteries. Their main limitation, like hydro, is that they need to be located in specific areas; sunnier/hotter states like Nevada, New Mexico or Arizona.
I don’t doubt that the solar or wind technology works in the appropriate locations or that they are able to produce enough when conditions are correct. I mentioned batteries because the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind isn’t always blowing.
Indeed…in small scale applications, such as for a single homeowner, wind and solar definitely require more advanced batteries than we have today. The folks that are successfully “off the grid” have entire outbuildings filled with huge, expensive batteries and transformers!
That “windspire” does look cool…Nate, did you find any info about how much it will cost?