Despite the bad news that 2023 was the warmest year on record, proving that efforts to reverse global warming aren’t working, there are some remarkable inventions and adaptations that herald significant progress toward replacing fossil fuels with renewables.
CleanTechnica.com recently ran an article by Carolyn Fortuna covering some promising developments. Instead of just solar panels (which are fine and have plummeted in cost) how about solar windows? A company named Ubiquitous Energy can turn windows in everyday homes and businesses into transparent solar collectors. The solar coating is made up of light-absorbing dyes that are non-toxic and Earth-abundant.
Forest fires can be stopped much sooner with Dryad Networks’ “electric noses” using solar-powered sensors which can be spread throughout a forest to detect even smoldering fires before they get out of control. This is extremely important because the gigantic fires of the last few years add greatly to the heat and pollution in the atmosphere.
Aren’t camping vehicles terrible gas hogs? How about a camper that is an electric vehicle? Aptera is an efficient solar EV that only uses 30% of an average EV’s energy. It reportedly has the capacity to go up to 1,000 miles on a single charge.
SustainablityMag.com ran a piece by Tom Swallow on the Top 10 green technology innovations. Smart meters installed in homes allow consumers to save money and use less energy at times of day when there is a strain on the grid. For instance, washer/dryers and dishwashers can easily be used after the 8 pm reduction.
Plastics can be used for road surfacing. Coca-Cola has been promoting its project called World Without Waste for over a decade. It is now working on building roads in Pakistan using plastic in the mix. It is also aiming to eliminate petroleum-based plastic for its beverages by 2025 and replace it with plant-based biodegradable material.
I disagree with SustainabilityMag’s contention that nuclear is a viable clean alternative. To me, putting humans in charge of nuclear power is like giving a 16-year-old a Corvette and a keg of beer. What could go wrong? The truth is we just aren’t capable of handling it, particularly when nature deals its destruction, like it did at Fukushima, Japan.
An October 2023 article on Earth.org covered the pros and cons of wave energy, a clean source from the perpetual movement of the ocean’s waves. A huge advantage of wave energy is that its predictability is solid, or rather liquid, unlike wind and solar. But a major concern is the impact wave energy has on marine life. Animals can become entangled in the mooring cables, and migration patterns can also be adversely affected. I’m betting these hazards can be mitigated to a minimum, like with wind turbines, which have greatly reduced the incidences of bird deaths simply by painting one of the blades black.
With personal and political movement, innovations like these can become part of our lives. When a northern country like Germany can use renewables to power over 50% of its grid, the rest of us can match that or do better. Call it Triumph of the Will.
Frank Lingo is a free-lance writer based in Lawrence, Kansas. Email: lingofrank@gmail.com. See his website: Greenbeat.world
From The Progressive Populist, March 1, 2024
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