{"id":4406,"date":"2011-03-06T20:57:41","date_gmt":"2011-03-07T01:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthe8spot.com\/?p=4406"},"modified":"2011-03-06T20:57:41","modified_gmt":"2011-03-07T01:57:41","slug":"how-energy-alternatives-can-make-us-safer-and-healthier-science-in-the-triangle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/onthe8spot.com\/index.php\/2011\/03\/06\/how-energy-alternatives-can-make-us-safer-and-healthier-science-in-the-triangle\/","title":{"rendered":"How energy alternatives can make us safer and healthier \u00ab Science in the Triangle"},"content":{"rendered":"

James Bartis, a senior policy researcher with the RAND Corp., a global policy think tank with an office in the Middle East emirate of Qatar, was one of the speakers at the conference.\u00a0In testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources two years ago, Bartis urged that there was \u201ca compelling need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions\u201d and a need for research on technologies that would allow us to use less oil, coal and natural gas, the three fossil fuels linked to almost 90 percent of the emissions.
\nAt the NCSU conference, where he participated on a panel of alternative energy experts, Bartis was asked why lawmakers aren\u2019t heeding his advice more. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of money to be had [with fossil fuels] and there\u2019s a lot of inertia,\u201d he responded.
\nAbout 83 percent of the U.S. economy runs on fossil fuels and Alan Hegburg, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the conference\u2019s keynote speaker, didn\u2019t expect much will change the next 10 years.
\nCoal is plentiful and cheap \u2013 no country has more coal reserves than the U.S. Crude oil is also still plentiful and cheap to extract \u2013 in the Middle East, which has more than half of the world\u2019s oil reserves.
\nFossil fuels pack a lot of energy. Their production is efficient. The delivery infrastructure is finetuned. And markets are well developed. In contrast, energy alternatives cost more and are less energy-dense. And functioning delivery systems to drive demand are rudimentary at best where they exist.
\n\u201cGetting this train to change tracks will take a huge effort,\u201d Hegburg said.
\nThen why try? Speakers at the conference offered as the main reason the hidden costs of fossil fuels.
\nGenerating electricity from coal and burning oil for transportation is a dirty business. In 2005, pollution caused an estimated $120 billion in damages to human health, crops, timber yields, buildings and recreation nationwide, according to a report the National Research Council published 18 months ago.
\nAnother study published a few weeks ago in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences estimated that extracting, transporting, processing and combusting coal caused $345 billion in damages to the health and the environment in 2005.
\nFactor in the hidden costs and electricity would be at least twice as expensive, according to the study. Do the same with oil and gasoline prices would be at least $1.50 per gallon higher, Bartis said.
\nSuddenly, wind and solar energy and investments to boost energy efficiency and conservation become competitive. Calls from research hubs for more funding to make cleaner energy alternatives cheaper and more efficient begin to make sense.
\nvia How energy alternatives can make us safer and healthier \u00ab Science in the Triangle<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Bartis, a senior policy researcher with the RAND Corp., a global policy think tank with an office in the Middle East emirate of Qatar, was one of the speakers at the conference.\u00a0In testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources two years ago, Bartis urged that there was \u201ca compelling need … <\/p>\n

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