Quote:
Originally Posted by ssiguy
It'ss quite obvious we are heading into a recession but our long-term prospects will depend completely on how we embrace the future and no where is this more true than Alberta. Due to the phase out of oil over the next 30 years and natural gas shortly there after, Alberta has the most to lose but conversly it also has the most to gain
Alberta became a 20th century energy powerhouse but ,unlike what some may think, it could also become a 21st century one all depending on it's own actions. Oil is dying and nothing will stop that but Alberta is very fortunate in also having huge potential in it's replacement.......hydrogen. We are moving into a hydrogen economy because it is the ONLY environmentally sustainable option we have. This is why Toyota and Hyundai are investing very little in battery technology and billions into hydrogen, they can see the writing on the wall.
A recent Alberta technology has been developed with game changing potential...........a way to create hydrogen from already capped oil wells and from current oil sands at one-eigth current production costs due to needing very little new infrastructure because the oil companies have already put it in place. Alberta should be putting billions into such developments and working with Ottawa and the car companies to build 10,000 new hydrogen fueling stations across the country over the next 20 years.
The potential for hydrogen is truly endless as it is the ONLY technological or logistical alternative to oil in ALL applications. Unfortunately, instead of offering billions to develope a truly exciting new technology it is spending billions in tax cuts to prop up a dying one and it will young Albertans who will pay the price for this lack of vision. Alberta has the potential to secure a prosperous future and going from an internation pariah to the poster child of a strong green economy but only if it has both the will and courage to do so and unfortunately, that is sadly lacking.
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I've posted before showing that oil is not dying. Its used in too many products. Even ignoring its use for transportation, carbon fibre among other ultra-light metal replacement materials will demand oil well into the 22nd century. Oil is simply a great source of carbon molecules.
And if we look at transportation electric cars and planes are nowhere near being feasible. BC doesn't have enough power generation to cover its future industrial development (LNG) even once Site C is complete and would require 5+ more Site C's to cover full adoption of electric cars. If BC can't go electric how is every other place in the world going to? Many places still rely on non-renewables for electrical power. We don't have "cheap" nuclear available and I don't think we're ready to allow most third world nations to develop nuclear power. Not to mention that we still have no way to get a large passenger aircraft from one place to another that doesn't involve a large nuclear reactor that may break up and spread radioactives into our airstream. Also I don't see any way to get big cargo ships and tankers across the ocean without nuclear. A full scale cheap global adoption of nuclear power is required if we want to get off oil and I just don't see that happening in the next 40 years. Whats much more likely is that we develop carbon sequestration and other technologies to reverse climate change and use those to balance out and reverse our pollution. We can power those with advanced nuclear technologies in first world nations.
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(what I actually need is a popcorn eating smilie here).
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