Fossil Fuels and Toxicity
What Price are we Paying for using Fossil Fuels?
By Toby Kinkaid
Fossil fuels run our world. However, fossil fuels are toxic. Thirty years ago 81% of all energy used in the world was from burning fossil fuels. Today? We use 84% of our energy from fossil fuels.
In some measure, everything we’ve done over the last 50 years of Earth Days’ has amounted to a loss. We’re going the wrong direction.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels account for less than 2% of the world’s electricity supply. This isn’t good enough. One of the problems with adding more Solar PV to the traditional grid is grid balancing.
Excess renewable energy is often curtailed – it’s turned off. Why? Without an immediate load there is nowhere for the electricity to go. If you don’t turn it off, then the grid over energizes which causes a dangerous situation for equipment and people.
The answer is to build out renewables on the grid while simultaneously adding Electrolyzers to absorb any over production. If this is not done together in combination, then we’ll continue to founder in building out renewables.
The Green Hydrogen Economy recognizes you need to build out the grid to 150% renewable energy and use every bit of over production to produce clean hydrogen from water.
It’s that simple. And, I do mean straightforward. Solar PV is very well understood. You can deploy solar PV with ground mounts mixing with agricultural land helping to retain water in the field. You can mount them on fences, poles, residential and commercial rooftops and best of all – as canopies over existing parking lots.
Most cities devote up to a third of their land within city limits to parking lots and roads. Instead of any new land required, the best idea is to dual use the land you have with solar PV Canopies. People will enjoy the shade and protection from the rain and weather. All the while producing enormous amounts of electricity onsite dedicated to power all loads directly will all excess going to hydrogen production. This is the way we can convert our fossil fuel grids to Green Hydrogen systems.
How much Fossil Fuel Toxicity can we Survive in this World?
Our world is too toxic. The sketch on the right attempts to show the enormous stresses each human and collectively our world faces with our massive toxicity.
At some point we need to step back and consider our ethics. The problems listed to the right is just a short list of how many disasters we face – simultaneously.
If our problems are simultaneous, then our solutions need to be simultaneous too.
We may be able to cope with one or two on this list but all of them? All at the same time? Not likely to survive this scenario.
The best way to solve a problem? Don’t create one. This simple logic is our only hope. The problem becomes the industries who sell you this toxic fuel are well established and worse of all – don’t want to change.
The oil and chemical industries in fossil fuels are masters at this game. “Yeah, well, we all want a clean world – but, do you want to get to work today?” This is how these “interests” play the political game. They tell the politicians that fossil fuels are the only way you’re going to get re-elected. There are many techniques of miss-information all designed to keep things the same.
If you substitute the word “Heroin” for the word “Carbon” then the stated goal of a “Low Heroin world” doesn’t sound so good. How about a Heroin-free world? Wouldn’t that be better?
Language really matters, but most of all our sense of history, and that our world cannot survive continued mass use of fossil fuels requires proper language. We’ve been saying this for 50 years with really no effect other than to burn in absolute terms more fossil fuels producing more toxicity than we ever did before. Fossil fuels were our past, not our future.
Civilization's transition from Fossil Fuels - to Clean Fuels
Everyone needs energy. If we expect to live in a modern world, and enjoy all of the incredible accomplishments of our cultures and technologies we need to take another look.
Humans need food, water, and shelter, but collectively we need so much more. We need fertilizers (I prefer organic) to feed now 8 Billion souls on-board. That’s about a Thousand Million meals per hour!
That’s an awful lot to ask of this earth especially when we’re collectively felling worldwide about 1 Million trees per Hour!
Our earth is the most incredible place known in the universe. The diversity and history of earth is beyond comprehension – yet we’re about to throw it all away. Why?
The only way we can fix this problem is to convert from toxic depended fuels, to non-toxic independent fuels. It only takes a few specialized machines. That’s it. This whole situation is actually absurd for its solution is there if you’re willing to see it.
There is a great quote attributed to Capt. Jack Rackham (Calico Jack) during the golden age of Piracy. The quote proclaims: “the more elusive the puzzle, the more painfully obvious its ultimate solution – one just must be willing to see it.” Wiser words have never been said.
The Choice is direct - Door Number One, or Door Number Two?
The choice for our world is very clear: door #1 or door #2?
Door number one is a business as usual world. A world where the current energy “experts” who tell you we’ll always be burning fossil fuels – and who have no real idea what they’re talking about. They’re only saying what they think will keep them in business.
Many good people make a good living in the fossil fuel industry. The transition will be to tap this vast experience and expertise and apply it to this industrial job migration.
The Green Hydrogen technology has developed such that on a case-by-case business comparison the green hydrogen system wins over fossil fuels – even now. Even before great price reductions through scaling, existing Electrolyzers, and Fuel Cell stacks are at the cusp of breaking through in the energy market.
Even though Electrolyzers still need to come down 90% in Capital cost they are on that path. Fuel Cells in the last decade have gone down nearly 75% and continuing to drop in price as advanced manufacturing comes online.
The more we install the lower the price. Want something to be cheaper than today? Mass production, given no material constraints have demonstrated over and over again that scaling up reduces unit costs – dramatically.
To convert our world sector by sector into Green Hydrogen Systems we need to take things case-by-case. The low hanging fruit is in the transportation sector. Pairing Green Hydrogen infrastructure with FCEV fleets is a winning combination. Just ask any fleet manager – “say, how much do you spend on fossil fuels every month?” I promise the answer will come with a crinkled face as they tell you the real number. It’s a lot.
Fossil Fuels are Toxic
Our world is not sustainable. That’s a big statement. Given the normal meaning of those words – it’s not good. Many in the fossil fuel world and their lobbyists all come back to scare tactics. “If you don’t buy our fuel – then you can’t grow.”
Simple, but surprisingly effective. Threaten politicians with bad economic news and they’ll eat out of your hands. This is true all over the world. The vise grip of fossil fuels has everyone in their pocket – but this is changing.
Countries around the world have taken up the Green Hydrogen vision. They’ve taken it up like Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Chile because it makes sense and in their interests to do so. They’re not talking about lowering toxic emissions, they’re talking about eliminating emissions by developing a better way. The Green Hydrogen way.
Our modern world powered by fossil fuels is toxic and leading to collapse. Does anyone really think we’re not? Everything is at stake now and because of that we need to think about profit. Everyone’s energy bill combined is North of $6 Trillion each year – every year.
We emit more than 90x times the pollution from all active volcanoes on earth combined. That makes us a collective Super Volcano. One thing history demonstrates without fail is that mass extinctions always follow Super Volcano events.
Every mammalian species on earth protects their young. Are we the first to fail this standard? Our world suffers from the “Frog in the Frying Pan” syndrome. Put a frog into a frying pan and turn on the heat – what happens? The frog jumps out. Put a frog in the frying pan and slowly turn up the heat – what happens? The frog doesn’t know to jump.
Are we the frog? Yes. And, it’s time to jump.
The Industrial Revolution of the 21st Century Today
Industrial Revolution has always been the case. In the past these major leaps were made here and there. As technology progresses however, now change has accelerated to levels never experienced by our species.
The enormous power every modern human has at their fingertips was unimaginable only a few years ago – let alone 100 years.
We’ve been burning fossil fuels for over three centuries. Who thinks the future can run on past ideas? Only those in the fossil fuel business can afford to think this way.
The Green Hydrogen Economy will set the world free of toxic fuels and all of the health and climatic impacts this causes. Our world depends on our stewardship. We’ve failed ourselves and this world if we don’t rise to this ocassion.
The Green Hydrogen economy uses “Green Electrons to make Green Molecules.” That’s it. That’s what it’s all about. It’s inspiring to me to see the world waking up and standing up to old toxic thinking and technology.
The Steam Engine is our past, and is no way our future. The transition to a green hydrogen way of industrialization will change the human condition away from deprivation and want to one of energy richness and peace among countries. The only way to solve the world for all of us – is to save the world for each of us. The Green Hydrogen Economy is the future where everyone, everywhere, and relatively all at once – can inherit our common world – and build our common future.
