Solar, Wind, Energy Storage Can Help Reduce Fossil Fuel Dependence
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
In his Aug. 8 letter “Clean Energy Comes with the Risk of Failing to Meet Electricity Demand,” Patrick Mosman refers to solar and wind energy as “non-reliable.” While these clean energy sources are intermittent, when coupled with energy storage devices such as batteries they can provide a constant flow of electricity even when there is a lack of sunlight or wind.
Also, Mr. Mosman appears to suggest that we continue to rely mainly on oil, coal and natural gas for energy by describing how long refineries and power plants can be maintained, but he fails to mention the climate crisis. Burning oil, coal and natural gas for energy emits large amounts of carbon dioxide, and these emissions are the number one cause of the crisis.
To halt global warming, the main energy options to consider right now in the U.S. are solar, wind, hydropower and nuclear power, none of which emit carbon dioxide. However, this country doesn’t have large additional resources for hydropower and because of very high costs, extensive time delays and strong public opposition related to radioactivity, hardly any new nuclear power plants are being built in the U.S. anymore.
Therefore, the main significant realistic options at this time to replace fossil fuels are solar and wind energy. This is not an ideal situation but time is of the essence for reducing emissions and this decade and the next will require dramatic reductions in emissions to avoid worldwide climate change that goes well beyond what we have already experienced.
In addition to deploying solar and wind energy as quickly as possible, it will be essential to retrofit millions of older buildings for energy efficiency and mainly use electricity for powering transportation and heating. The consequences of climate change are unfortunately occurring sooner than predicted by computer models and actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions need to be speeded up.
Robert Liebman
Mount Kisco
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