It Can Be Done, And Quickly

As this article from the NY Times about Portugal makes very clear, transition to a renewable energy regime can be accomplished, and very quickly at that.

"Today, Lisbon’s trendy bars, Porto’s factories and the Algarve’s glamorous resorts are powered substantially by clean energy. Nearly 45 percent of the electricity in Portugal’s grid will come from renewable sources this year, up from 17 percent just five years ago."

Apparently, they have hit all the right buttons: grid modernization, emphasis on wind and hydro, two-way power flow to and from customers who have rooftop solar panels.

Yes, all it really takes is political will.  The rest is just money (and we know what that is really worth..).

By contrast, the real costs of relying on fossil fuels are:

1. Massive geopolitical risk, which translates into the cost of maintaining an enormous "defense" establishment and occasionally fighting energy wars, as we are doing right now.
2. Environmental degradation and climate change.
3. Losing our technological edge as other countries and entire continents (e.g. Europe) move towards more sophisticated energy regimes.  For example, the Portuguese electricity company EDP already owns wind farms in Iowa and sells electricity to the Tennessee Valley Authority.  Instead of moving ahead, the U.S. is dumbing-down.

In the 1950's and '60s rich American tourists visited remote villages in poverty-stricken Spain and Portugal, frequently snapping pictures of themselves riding donkeys and mules.  The poor locals were befuddled, since they would gladly have exchanged their picturesque animals for a tractor or - gasp - an automobile, if they could afford it.

I fear that in 2050 rich Spaniards will be visiting West Virginia or Utah to pixelize themselves driving ancient gasoline pickup trucks, which the locals would gladly exchange for a 300-mile range electric model, if they could afford it.