One doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that change is in the air – literally. Our climate is changing for whatever reasons and we are experiencing extreme heat, high winds, and a lack of moisture in the farm belts of the world all at once. On top of that, we are running out of oil at a time of increasing demand. The future may not look that good from this point of view, but there’s a silver lining to this cloud of uncertainty. We are quickly approaching a point where we can no longer take a skeptical view of denial. Change is upon us and we have to take measures to cope with it and lessen its effects on society. There is lots we can do right now. The technologies to lessen or stop these changes are at our disposal today.

 

Here is what we see:

Our most serious problems, CO2 emissions and the lack of oil, can be solved in as few as 5 years by switching to algae-derived biofuels. Algae produces up to 50% or more of its dry weight in biofuel, can be harvested daily, consumes waste water and CO2, produces pure oxygen as a byproduct, and relies on the sun for its energy.  Best of all, the entire US need for Biodiesel (22 million barrels per day) can be met from a single algae biofuel plant located in a corner of the Mojave Desert. No crop lands, fresh water, or toxic fertilizer is needed to produce millions of gallons each day. In reality, and for security and distribution reasons, hundreds of small biofuel production systems are the best approach to take.

Fuel is only part of the problem. As the cost of oil and natural resources rises the cost of delivered electricity also increases.  Our electrical systems around the world are already over taxed due to continued population growth and industrial use. The obvious solution is to get off the grid, not tax it further. Wind and solar energy are the obvious solutions for those locations where one or both are abundantly available. Windy locations will require only reliable wind turbines to create clean energy where other locations will require a combination of wind and solar where there is only occasional wind but ample sunlight.

Energy conservation, in the form of radiant barriers (extreme insulation), is another technology that exists today but is yet to find its way into home building markets. Radiant barriers are thin insulation materials developed for extreme conditions such as insulating the space station and shuttle. Typically, radiant barriers provide R-values (resistance to heat flow) up to 500! Radiant barriers keep the warmth in and the cold out, or vise versa, and can easily be built into new building structures before the walls are covered. When home buyers and builders recognize the value of radiant barrier homes the cost of this technology will become competitive with traditional insulation.

Human consumption is turning our world into a trash dump. We have bulk trash, degradable trash, non-biodegradable trash, and toxic trash. Recycling not only makes sense, it has quickly become a necessity. Recycling offers multiple advantages right away. First, we rid the world of its trash; separate ingredients into their raw, basic form for reuse, and create natural gas and biofuel from the decay of organic matter. Recycling and reprocessing makes us a winner all the way around.

GGE is dedicated to the advance and commercialization of energy and conservation solutions.  They are no longer “in the future”. These technologies are here now. In the next 2-3 years we will see the introduction of production-level algae biofuels, the application of wind turbines on commercial and governmental buildings, major advances in thin-film solar solutions, the introduction of thermal isolation materials to conserve heat, and continued advances toward 100% recycling, a required goal.

They are all happening now.