Curing Our Hydrocarbon Addiction:

Though there is much misinformation concerning these matters, I am happy to inform you that all of the technologies necessary to cure our hydrocarbon addiction already exist. In fact, most have been around for decades. This is good news, since the implied shift from petrochemicals to an emission-free and sustainable energy economy is an ecological imperative. Ironically, water itself is at the center of this clean and sustainable energy system.

1. Why Alternative Energy Is Necessary:

Alternative energy is necessary because our society's dependence on fossil fuels is associated with a wide range of ecologically damaging consequences. Fossil fuels include coal, oil and natural gas.

The negative ecological impacts of fossil fuel dependence include: global warming from CO2 emissions, acid rain from sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions, particulate pollution, ground level ozone pollution (smog), massive oil spills, and the contamination of ground water from leaking underground storage tanks at service stations. Nitrogen oxide emissions also contribute to nutrient pollution similar to that from concentrated sewage and artificial fertilizers. Coal is by far the dirtiest of the three (though it is slightly cleaner than burning wood) while natural gas is the cleanest.

All of the fossil fuels exist in limited quantities, however, which are rapidly being used up as they are consumed. While coal remains fairly abundant it is again the dirtiest, and a poor choice on those grounds. Oil, which still powers the majority of our transportation system, is rapidly disappearing. In fact, world oil production has been projected to peak and begin to decline within less than a decade, so it is easy to understand why the discussion of alternate fuels has become so important. Natural gas is not only the cleanest of the three, but also exists in abundance. Even so, it also exists in limited quantities, making it only a short-term solution to the world's energy needs, and not a clean one.

The two greatest problem areas when it comes to our hydrocarbon addiction include: 1. our use of fossil fuels (especially coal and natural gas) to generate electricity, and, 2. our use of petroleum in transportation. In terms of transportation, both the global production and distribution system created by the centralized planning of transnational corporations and the proliferation of the private automobile are the most problematic areas which need

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