The Green Technocrat

…they both seem like a good idea at the time, but you’re probably going to end up with syphilis.

So gas prices have been falling lately, and while people across the country have been rejoicing in their good fortune - You might not be able to afford your mortgage, and you might have lost your retirement savings in the market, but at least you can still drive a Hummer - I have been grimacing every time I walk past a gas station and see that it’s getting just a little easier to shift our dependence back to our old friends, fossil fuels.

Last week, as the market continued its downward spiral, the national average for a gallon of gas hit $2.99.  The cheapest it has been in almost a year.  So what’s the problem with cheap gas?  Why am I advocating higher gas prices (aside from getting a sweet kick back from Iran)?

The problem is that as the price of oil falls so does the incentive for utility companies and consumers to spend money on more expensive, renewable energy.  In the late 70s and early 80s, when America was facing an energy crisis, investments in solar and wind energy climbed, but as the cost of fuel began to come back down the investments started to dry up.  Now, I know what you are thinking; This time it will be different.  Afterall both presidential candidates have promised to build bold new renewable energy programs to cut our dependence on foreign oil, and to reduce our carbon footprint.

Unfortunately, despite the increase in public awareness, campaign promises, and the increasingly urgent need to invest more in renewable energy technologies, we are already seeing investments in this area come grinding to a halt as the market turmoil has spread around the world.  Investment capitol is hard to come by these days and the clean tech industry has been one of the hardest hit, with shares in alternative energy companies falling even more sharply than the stock market over the past few weeks.

In an article in the N.Y. Times John Woolard, chief executive officer of BrightSource Energy, a solar company, said he believed the long-term future for renewables remained promising, though “right now we are looking at tumultuous and unpredictable capital markets.”

So far several wind farm projects have been put on hold across the country, Tesla Motors has announced that it is consolidating its operations, biofuel plants in Oklahoma and Iowa have delayed opening due to a lack of capitol, and analysts say that “initial and secondary stock offerings by clean energy companies across global markets have slowed to a crawl since the spring, and for the full year could total less than half of the record $25.4 billion for 2007.”

As the price of oil and gas continue to drop so do our chances of shedding our dependence on fossil fuels  According to the same article in the N.Y. Times “Wall Street analysts say most utilities and other builders can profitably choose big wind projects over gas-fired plants only when gas prices are $8 per thousand cubic feet or higher. Natural gas settled Monday at about $6.79 per thousand cubic feet, down from about $13.58 on July 3.”

What needs to be done to ensure that investment in renewable energy does not dry up?  For one thing it’s time to pass federal laws that mandate that progressively larger and larger portions of our energy are produced from renewable sources.  This will ensure that there will be continued investment in renewable energy.  Additionally, we need to make sure that tax credits continue to be available for consumers and providers of wind, geothermal, and solar energy.

Until then there is only one thing to do.  We need to create an “artificial” gas shortage to drive up prices.  I want everyone to load a few 50 gallon drums in the back of their SUV and go fill up, it will probably cost about the same as filling your car three months ago.