The Lighted Path to Solar Power and Electrical Energy Dominance

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By 2052, the control of the energy economy by a very few large megacorporations, a characteristic of the fossil-fuel age, will be over. Solar power generation will be as close to the consumers as possible, sustainable, and stable for decades, freely exchanged at real-time market prices through the interconnection of micro-grids and national grids.
By 2052, the control of the energy economy by a very few large megacorporations, a characteristic of the fossil-fuel age, will be over. Solar power generation will be as close to the consumers as possible, sustainable, and stable for decades, freely exchanged at real-time market prices through the interconnection of micro-grids and national grids.
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In
In "2052," Jorgen Randers draws on global forecasting tools, his own experience in sustainability and the predictions of more than 30 leading scientists to guide us through the future he feels is most likely to emerge. Not to scare us, but to prepare us and sound a call for changing course.

What will our future on earth look like? In 2052, (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2012) Jorgen Randers tries to predict what the world will actually be like in forty years, based on global forecasting tools, his own experience in sustainability and predictions of leading scientific and sustainable minds. The following excerpt, from William W. Behrens, explains the predicted shift from the current dependency on fossil-based energy to the dominance of solar power and electrical energy in 2052.

You can purchase this book from the MOTHER EARTH NEWS store: 2052: A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years.

Bright Solar Future

Between now and 2052, the world of energy will evolve more positively than many other aspects of human culture. And in that world, electrical energy will stand out, not just for replacing fuel energy in all sectors of the United States and the world, but also for doing it much more quickly than expected. The reason for this is simple: electrical energy will be produced with much less capital intensity than fuel energy.

Already, all fossil-based energy production requires heavy capital infrastructure. As the quality and quantity of fuel resources decline, the capital required to extract a gallon of fuel will increase dramatically (witness the intensity of capital required to develop the tar sands reserves). Yet, eventually, suppliers worldwide will be able to produce electricity with relatively small and modular hardware. As this trend develops, both transportation and space conditioning will turn toward increasingly efficient electricity-based hardware. By 2040, in the United States, electricity-supported transportation systems will be common in densely populated areas, and many homes and businesses will have been converted to air- and water-sourced heat pumps that operate on electricity from renewable sources, and will no longer rely on fuel-based boilers. The primary renewable electrical energy source will be solar.

  • Published on May 7, 2014
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