Since the first human being came to be Earth, man has been in search of energy, be it to eat (food) or operate (fire). From fire to coal to combustion to fossil fuels, our sources of energy have evolved. When our source of energy changes to a more natural source, the political landscape will also change drastically. When someone controls your energy source (food or operation), they ultimately control you. Therefore, we've can either continue to search for sustainable energy sources and/or reduce our energy use.


America has spent so many years spending tax payer's dollars to fight wars for non-renewable unsustainable fossil fuels. It's not coincidence where the US's "enemies" happen to be. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iraq's Sadam Huesein (Persian Gulf War & Operation Iraqi Liberation), and Afghanistan's Osama Bin Laden (War on Terror) all just happen to be be from the most oil rich regions of the world.

I believe solar energy is the next wave. Every 15 minutes, the sun's energy gives off enough energy to power the Earth for a year, but we don't know how to harness it. More importantly, the sun is responsible for all life and most forms of energy (even fossil fuels). Without the sun, there would be no plants, therefore there would be no herbivores, therefore there would be no carnivores, therefore there would be no us. I recently found out that 60-80% of energy is lost from power plants as it travels through power lines from the suburbs to the city.

When it costs oil (production costs + shipping costs) to make more oil, that can't be sustainable. The price is guaranteed to rise rapidly with a business model like that. That leads me to believe that the future of energy will be solar and localized. Homes will have solar panels on roofs to produce their own energy. The reason we have yet to shift toward this model is because whereas man can conquer land for fossil fuels, man cannot own a piece of the sun. Somehow, people have claimed rights to natural resources like water (hence bottled water), but the sun will be a challenge.

Image Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/colombia/oilb.html

Gas prices are ridiculous! I'm glad that I don't drive right now. But I'm not mad at the gas companies. They've been waiting on this day. Any company selling any product or service would be happy to have demand (and dependency) so high that they could charge whatever they want for it. When demand is extremely high and supply is extremely low, the price will be high. Its economics.

Things will not change until the consumer changes their behavior. Oil companies have to have the financial interest to do something and there is no obligation for them to lower prices. The cost of gas is rising (even for the oil companies) and if they don't make money, then even they go out of business. Once the consumer changes their behavior, the gas companies will start investing more and more in new sources of energy.