There is no one easy solution to meeting the energy needs of the 21st century and beyond; every technology has its trade-offs:
Petroleum and coal are both non-renewable and produce greenhouse gases; solar and wind energy both require lots of land and the energy collected from them can not yet be efficiently distributed; and hazardous waste from nuclear power plants must be dealt with for thousands of years.
Less obvious are the hidden costs of energy sources; biofuels, regarded as the “greenest” technology, uses hundred of liters of water to grow the fuel.
The other side of the energy equation is reducing use, which is an issue that involves education and public policy. The solution to our future energy needs requires the input from scientists, engineers, educators, policy makers, and you.
Science magazine has a special section on scaling up alternative energies and the trade-offs involved.
[Adrian Cho, Science, v. 329, 13 August 2010,p. 786-787]
Image from here.
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