World must develop new sources of energy

Last Tuesday, we wrote that the very first effect of an American attack in Iraq would be a global oil shortage. There is no doubt that even without such a catastrophe, mankind will have to find other sources of energy. Coal and oil are natural resources that are fast running out. What scientists and technicians will have to do is to develop wind, solar, hydroelectric and geothermal power.

Germany is starting on this with wind power. Over a third of the world’s wind power is in Germany, followed by the United States and Spain.

Wind-power development in Germany started only in 1991. It was triggered by the Power Supply Act that required power company owners to buy their wind-generated electricity at a fixed and relatively high price. That is what made it a good business investment. Nine years later, this was followed by the Renewable Energies Act that promoted the use of electricity produced from a regenerative source. The price of electricity varies. In some places, it is nine euro-cents for a kilowatt-hour. In windy locations, it goes down to six cents.

The present German government is hoping that its present wind-power promotion will make Germany meet its obligation on climate protection based on the Kyoto protocol, which was to achieve a 21 percent reduction in the 1990 level of carbon dioxide emissions by 2012. So aside from providing a substitute for coal and oil, wind power is one of the answers to the pollution problem that is the cause global warming. Compared to electricity produced by coal and oil, wind-powered stations save about 600 gram of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour annually. That sums up to more than 12 million tons of carbon dioxide. Already 3.5 percent of electricity used in Germany is wind-generated. The government‚s plan is to double the number of electricity produced by renewable sources. Half of this amount will be wind-power. Germany is today the leading producer of wind turbines. German windmills are already being exported to all the continents of the world.

The use of wind power is not new. Here, for instance, our peasants use an air current to blow the chaff away from pounded rice. Sailboats also utilize wind power. In Europe, windmills were used to draw water and grind corn. But now, wind power will be one of the renewable sources of energy that will gradually take the place of coal, oil and gas. And they don't pollute the environment.

Everything has its drawbacks. Some Germans find the mushrooming wind turbine generators blight to the landscape. They call them "asparagus plantations" so future wind-powered mills may have to be constructed offshore. Actually there is a further advantage there. The wind blows stronger and more constantly in the sea. But they are more expensive to build and maintain. The foundations have to be anchored at sea so they can survive storms. The equipment has to be protected from seawater and kilometers of submarine cable will be needed to connect to the mainland.

We believe that there is a great future in this country for solar, wind and geothermal sources of energy. The advantage here is that we can experiment in one or two islands and actually see how they work. We should, for instance, know what the minimum and maximum amount of wind-powered turbines that would be required to furnish the electricity requirements of different-sized communities.

The sooner we prepare ourselves for the era of renewable energy the better it will be for us. The war in Iraq is likely to break out this month. Our first major problem will be our oil supply. It is a problem that is also a matter of time. The world supply of oil is running out. Are we going to wait till that happens before we find a suitable alternative to, at least, our supply of electricity?