As we close in on the first quarter of the twenty-first century though, recent developments like the Ukrainian War, the Green Movement and numerous other factors have caused many to ponder about where our energy comes from and what will be needed to power our world over the next forty to fifty years.
Reading recent headlines on your social media channel, or mainstream news websites, one of the largest news stories to make a splash lately was the headline, "California to Ban the Sale of New Gasoline Cars" or some variation this headline, depending on the media outlet. In addition to this executive order that California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed, ironically the same week California put out a press release asking for EV owners to not charge their cars during a heatwave, several California cities, including Los Angeles have recently banned or are considering banning the construction of new gas stations. What exactly is happening here? Is California single-handedly going to drive a stake through the heart of the internal combustion engine (ICE)? Governor Newsom recently issued Executive Order 79-N-20 stating that California will ban the sales of new internal combustion powered engine vehicles that cannot meet the goal of zero-emissions by 2035. The order states, "It shall be a goal of the State that 100 percent of in-state sales of new passenger cars and trucks will be zero-emission by 2035. [...]
Battery powered electric vehicles, also known as BEVs, are often touted as being environmentally friendly because they are sold under the guise of being "zero emissions". But are EVs truly zero emissions?
Presented by Dr. Graham Conway, a Principal Engineer in the Automotive Division at Southwest Research Institute, this Ted Talk presents some interesting viewpoints and practical ways to separate the hype from the reality of EV emissions:
We believe that the future of transportation energy is eclectic but take a look at this compelling Ted Talk and reach your own conclusions.[...]
Amidst the chaos and uncertainty that we've experienced over the past few years, it's been easy to overlook some fundamental forces that are emerging in transportation energy. The world has barely begun to emerge from the Covid restrictions that have held the world captive for the past couple of years. The war in Ukraine is proving to be a huge global disruptor, not only from a humanitarian and political view, but also from a business, energy and commodity standpoint. Rarely has the world experienced so much societal upheaval in recent times. [...]
If you track worldwide energy demand on a year by year basis, it quickly becomes apparent that the demand for all forms of energy and particularly transportation energy shows no signs of leveling off or shrinking for the foreseeable future. Where does this energy come from? Today, worldwide, energy is largely derived from fossil fuels, natural gas and coal. Alternately, renewable energy has been with us for quite a while now. Solar, Wind, Wave and other renewable energy categories have their conceptual roots in the recent past, beginning in the environmental movement of the 1960s. The movement continued to grow throughout the 1970s and 80s. As the environmental movement and Earth Day became popular, renewable energy was hailed as cleaner, safer, and more economical than fossil fuels. [...]
In Part 1 of this article, we examined some specific claims that are often raised about the economics and environmental impacts of renewable energy. In Part 2, we'll take a look at the cold facts of how renewable energy is being deployed and the role it may play in the future to fulfill the world's energy needs.. [...]