Power for the Future?

With the cost of gasoline nearing $5 per gallon in the USA and increasing political instability in the regions that provide most of the world's crude oil, many people are concerned about the long-term viability of our oil-driven industrial society. Some extreme thinkers are worried that we (or our children) will be destined to live in a world that looks a lot like a "Mad Max" movie, but I don't think that's going to happen.

To keep our economy humming we need power. Power for cars, trains, planes, tractors,light bulbs, microwave ovens, computers, televisions, radios, and factories. Right now most of the worlds power comes from fossil fuels, and some comes from nuclear fuels. Both of these fuel sources are limited (there's only so much oil and uranium in the ground) and also have troublesome environmental issues from their production through their consumption.

So when the oil runs out or gets too expensive, what's going to happen? Will we collapse into a dark age of anarchy? I don't think so. Thankfully, we have alternative sources of energy that can provide all the power we need for the future — the sun and the oceans.

Solar power generation is becoming more viable every day. It's now estimated that the entire energy requirement of the USA could be met by building about 100 reasonably-sized solar power stations in the desert southwest. All day long, energy can be generated by keeping lots of mirrors reflecting the sun's light towards thermal towers, concentrating heat to drive turbines that generate electrical power. The excess heat is so great that it can be stored and used to generate power during the night — it's actually more efficient to store energy as raw heat than to convert it to electricity and store it in batteries.

Some of this electricity will be sent to facilities that take seawater and create hydrogen through the process of electrolysis; passing electricity through water causes the hydrogen and oxygen to split. The hydrogen can be collected and used for power where electricity isn't appropriate; in jet engines, long-range road vehicles, and industrial manufacturing processes that require a lot of heat. The hydrogen can be bottled and trucked or sent through pipelines to get to its point of consumption.

Cars and trucks of the future will probably be driven by electrical motors, because they are simpler, quieter, and more efficient than the internal combustion motors we use today. The power for these may be provided by a battery pack or a fuel cell; in the latter case the vehicle will contain a hydrogen fuel tank that can be refilled at hydrogen filling stations.

In the end, we'll have all of our needs met, create less pollution, cause less political strife, and yet still have private cars and single-family homes and all of the luxuries of life we're used to today.  And we'll power it all from the sun and the sea.