WASHINGTON— Earth’s climate change problems have no “planet B” solution, but focusing on increased investment in alternative fuel technologies could be the best plan B option, according to experts at an oil spill conference this week.
Monday’s event, which brought together expert speakers on topics ranging from oil spill science to marine conservation, was organized under TED, a nonprofit organization that invites experts and “inspired thinkers” on technology, entertainment and design.
Jigar Shah, founder of SunEdison, which specializes in solar energy service, and head of the energy think tank Carbon War Room, said the climate change problems can also provide impetus to move toward a cleaner energy future using existing technology.
“Opportunity is dressed up like a crisis,” he said.
According to Shah, much of today’s greenhouse emissions could be eliminated with existing technologies, but they face problems of scale, policy and lack of investment. Shah suggested shifting investment from new fuel exploration towards alternative fuels.
Biofuels, natural gas and electricity were cited by Shah and others as alternative options. And, as Shah noted, technology in these fields does exist.
Consider Tesla Motors, the electric car company famous for its Tesla Roadster, the electric sports car.
“It’s not just about sports cars and movie stars,” said Diarmuid O’Connell, vice president of business development for Tesla.
The Roadster now costs $101,500. But O’Connell suggested that as electric car production becomes more common, prices for such cars are likely to drop.
In fact, the company recently announced it will roll out the Model S sedan in 2012. At $49,900, that model will be barely half the price of the Roadster.
O’Connell pointed out that most of the world’s population resides in oil-poor nations, including the United States, which has only around 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves.
Because the U.S. is the largest consumer of oil, it should focus on energy used for transportation as a security issue, O’Connell said.
Electric vehicles like Teslas use no petroleum and have the most favorable CO2 footprint per mile of the alternatives, O’Connell said.