The Need for Alternative Energy:

History Repeats Itself

Although alternative energy seems to be a new buzzword these days, a look into our past may help us better understand our situation. As new  wind and solar energy companies pop up seemingly every day, a look at history will show that this type of activity is not a new phenomena. If we were taking renewable energy courses we would learn that "alternative" energy is simply a different energy and is not necessarily "renewable" energy as mankind has discovered in the past.

in the 1800s, over a hundred years ago, the United States was having an energy crisis. Along with the rest of the world, we were running out of oil. Not petroleum but whale oil. It was a main source of energy and used in such essentials as oil lamps before electric lights took their place. Whales had been slaughtered for centuries as if the world's oceans had an endless supply. This is when the world turned to petroleum as an alternative energy.

Now we are using petroleum as if the earth has an endless supply. Oil and its by products are used in a wide variety of modern products from plastics to diapers, from tires to fertilizer. Yet we continue to burn ever increasing millions of barrels of oil as if we were at an "all you can eat" buffet. Since we need petroleum for so many items we certainly need an alternative to using oil for gasoline and other fuels.

As our forefathers found out with whale oil, the price of a commodity tends to rise quickly as it becomes more scarce. Whale oil prices rose as whaling began to fail producing enough whale oil to meet the demand. We have seen petroleum prices rise from under $20 a barrel to over $100 a barrel in just a few years. We can expect this trend to continue with volatile swings in price until demand is significantly lowered or viable alternatives become available.

Renewable energy companies give us hope that this kind of energy crisis might be averted in the future. Wind and solar energy not only have seemingly endless supplies but have the advantage of being far more environmental friendly than petroleum. Renewable energy companies will be looking at these and other technologies to overcome this crisis. Will renewable energies be our saviors? All I know is that as the price of gasoline and other fossil fuels rise, mankind will be looking hard for his next whale.