I will pursue the energy topic this semester. Humans are as power hungry as ever and we are consuming more energy per day that we have ever in history. Currents trends lend no hope to the idea that the planet will start to use less energy or even slow down its growth in the rate of energy consumption, especially with the development of economies like Brazil and China. Fossil fuel is a limited, non-renewable resource and there will need to be something in the future to take its place when we run out.
The search for the be-all and end-all source of energy isn’t over, but there have been a variety of successful ideas. Wind power, geo-thermal energy, nuclear, and water power are all popular alternative sources. I believe the US government should be trying to integrate more and more of these energy sources into our nation and begin to ween us off of oil. It was just recently that Google invested 200 million into a wind farm in Texas (http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/09/technology/google-wind-farm/index.html). Obviously companies are starting to recognize that our addiction can’t continue and that other plans must be made. I think it will be interesting to see how different organizations are planning for an oil free future.
When people think sources of energy consumption, they think cars. Cars that run on electricity are becoming increasingly popular, but they’re too inconvenient and shot-ranged to be a permanent solution. Not many communities have charging stations for electric cars, so owners are limited to trips only half the range the car has the capability to travel in order to reserve energy for the return trip. Furthermore, electric cars take hours and hours to charge which would hinder someone from traveling for hours if their car in low on battery. As it stands, hybrid cars, which have gasoline powered motors along with electric motors, are the only viable choice in alternately powered cars.
Obviously there is a lot of room from improvement in the country’s and the world’s energy situation and I’d like to see where it goes.
Sounds like a very interesting topic. I certainly agree that alternative energey is important, it is something that as you said will need to become a viable reality in the not-so-distant future. I think forward-thinking companies like Google will and should definitely be leading the charge. I think I’d probably disagree on the role that the US government should have in all of this, but that’s a different point altogether. Anyway, interesting topic and I look forward to reading the blog.