| lkgeo1 2006-11-27, 9:25 am |
| Targeting fossil fuels? true cost
Written by Christina Oneill
Sunday, 26 November 2006
Saillant advocates for a sustainable energy supply
The tacit energy plan in the U.S., says Roger Saillant, is to protect
the source.
Saillant, president of Plug Power Inc., addressed a capacity crowd of
more than 200 listeners at the Nov. 8 William J. O'Brien
Distinguished Lecture Series at the Hogan Center at the college of the
Holy Cross. His message: Energy generation at point of use, rather than
energy generation and distribution from a centralized base, is good for
not only the environment, but for society as well.
You might expect as much from the founder of a company that designs and
develops on-site backup power systems. But when a questioner asked
Saillant whether the electricity it takes to generate hydrogen is
factored in to the cost of hydrogen-powered systems, he cited the
"true" costs of fossil fuel, starting at the cost to get the fuel to a
power plant, and the pollution it causes, to the wars waged to secure
its source.
He cited some sobering statistics: 29 billion tons of carbon dioxide
are emitted into the atmosphere each year; 40 percent from power
plants, 42 percent from oil. Transportation is responsible for 66
percent of all carbon dioxide emissions, and half the energy consumed
in a vehicle goes to moving the payload; the other half is used just to
move the car. While it may take more than a decade to replace the
current fossil fuel-burning auto fleet, he said, light-weighting the
auto fleet is something that can be done now.
Leaving behind centralized distribution to increase adoption of
generation at point of use would go a long way toward reducing carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere, Saillant said. A questioner asked what he
knew about irreversible carbon-dioxide-induced global warming. "What do
you tell the kids?"
"Some say it's already too late," Saillant replied, while others hope
for stabilization. We have to abandon the idea that we can't do
anything, so we don't do anything, he said. Our kids, meanwhile, have
concluded that adults are not serious about the problem.
Noted author Peter Senge, who had introduced Saillant to the audience,
said the standard chart used by climate scientists indicates that the
carbon load in the atmosphere is already 30 percent higher than in any
time in our history, and it's four to five times higher than a rate
at which nature takes carbon out. No less than a 75 percent-80 percent
global reduction is needed. Adherence to the Kyoto protocols would only
stabilize the rate of emissions.
Senge warned against assuming the free market will solve the world's
problems. If costs go higher, that logic runs, the market will shift.
But the logic of markets depends on the quality of the information
available to the participants, he said.
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