"We've Struck Distractions!"

(New font, hope you like it.)

The human race is alarmingly good at ignoring the obvious. If the evidence is there, and accepting the facts means that you'll lose money and customers, you pretend like it's a hoax.

That's one of the most frustrating things in the world to me. Voluntary ignorance.

Apparently, the next big thing is Oil-shale:

Since we've become so dependent on technology that is powered by petroleum products -- from the gas that runs your car to life-saving pharmaceuticals -- more unconventional sources of crude oil are being investigated. One of the more promising reserves of oil that hasn't been commercially exploited yet is oil shale. This is essentially oil trapped in solid form within rock.
-taken from the linked article

So what's my beef? I think it should be obvious. We're wasting time, money, and resources in an effort to continue fueling our outdated culture of fossil fuel dependence. We're killing the planet because rich, white Oil executives can't spare some change and refuse to admit that the planet is getting hotter, people are getting fatter, and it's mostly thanks to dependence upon fossil fuels.

What REALLY grinds my gears is that there are so many viable alternatives to it, to this fossil fuel addiction. Don't believe me? Give me ten seconds and I'll do some research.

Biodiesel from Microalgae. (PDF file)

Before I delve into the Microalgae element, let me argue for biodiesel. Sure, it's not my personal favorite for the race to clean energy...Solar power is my favorite. But biodiesel has a lot of convincing benefits to it. For one thing, even though burning fuel will still contribute to the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere, it will so ridiculously reduce the contribution that it should be no contest between itself and our current energy source. Not only does the stuff burn cleaner, but because sources of biofuel are generally plant life, growing and harvesting the stuff cleans CO₂ out of the air before putting it back in, creating a sort of equilibrium. Not to mention the fact that we probably wouldn't have to change our lives very much if we converted to biodiesel...from what I understand it works in a lot of vehicles already. More than if we turned everything electric, at least (which is still the best case scenario in my opinion).

Of the biodiesel crops, microalgae looks to be the most promising. The numbers alone are daunting: microalgae harvesting can yield (by liters per hectare) 795.9% more oil than corn can, in the same amount of space. Mostly because this new biodiesel source, this microalgae, is made up of more than 70% oil. Microalgae can be grown almost anywhere; in specialised factories, in ponds, on building roofs, all over the place. And because it's so small with such a massive ability to yield its oil, it's ridiculously efficient.

All of that is in addition to the fact that most of the other sources of biofuel on that list are foods, and could be put to much better use as such. Developing countries need corn, wheat, and rice, not biodiesel or electricity. Nobody eats algae (yet), so it's neither an expensive waste of resources or a ridiculous waste of space.

As I said, though, I still favor solar power over all of this. It's perfectly clean, insurmountable in quantity, and should last until our race has long since abandoned this planet (or, in other words, several billion years from now). Solar power also wouldn't require diversion of water resources to use in the same way that growing and harvesting algae would. And there are a slew of environmental hazards and difficulties that come from irresponsible irrigation. Solar powered cars and homes would nearly eliminate the need for any kind of fuels at all, and technological development coupled with research spending could bring about more advanced photovotaic cells and such that allow more energy to be stored and diverted to other needs. Our entire world ran on solar power until the industrial revolution; when will our mechanical creations run on it, too?

The worldwide rate of energy consumption in 2004 was approximately .471 Zettajoules (ZJ), while the amount of solar energy that is absorbed by the earth each year is around 3850 ZJ. That means that there’s 99.98776% of all the energy on earth not being used, and it’s perfectly clean and natural energy.

Like I stated before, though, I can be a proponent for biodiesel, if only because the infastructure is already in place. But we need to stop with the distractions. We need to stop fooling ourselves with 'new coal' and 'clean coal', we need to stop building coal power plants, and we need to realize a big, bad, looming titan sooner than later. Global Warming doesn't give a damn about your politics and about your beliefs. The only thing that's going to be able to put a stop to it before it puts a stop to us all is change.

Change. Not silly diversions.