• Intro  Wind  Water  Solar  Geothermal  Services  Suppliers  Publications

Energy

There is a growing consensus that our planet is fast approaching an energy crisis that will rival any that came before.  To be sure, there have been energy crises in the past: in the 1500s many English froze to death when there was a coal shortage in London.  In China during the Maoist led 'great leap forward'-- when every household was ordered to produce cast iron in the back yard-- many rural residents suffered from depleted energy supplies. So, energy shortages are nothing new to the world.

So What is New?

But what IS new is that the world is highly dependent on global energy markets, and when even slight imbalances occur (as in Summer of 2008), the energy price spikes can become terribly disruptive.  What is the answer, more drilling? More globalized markets? Perhaps. But we believe part of the answer to the problem will be found in better use of our natural energy supplies, those that are renewable.  What are we talking about?  Those resources that don't require expensive processing or global transport: solar, wind, geothermal, natural gas, biomass, tidal.  Of course, if global warming becomes an increasing concern, then nuclear sources of energy may become an important future source.  But, few communities can afford to build a nuclear power plant.  Not so for almost all the other forms of energy.  Local communities, perhaps as local as county governments, can build wind farms and solar fields.  In some energy rich regions, counties can sink natural gas wells and build local pipelines.  In short, we advocate a more NATURAL approach to bridging the looming gap between global energy supplies and local energy demand.