Dirty energy needs to be cleaned up

By Letter to the Editor on October 30, 2021.

Editor:
It is strange that all the hoopla, rhetoric and chest pounding pundits we have seen and heard about, who are advocating clean energy – wind, solar, nuclear, etc. forget that we still need “dirty energy” in order to get there.
We still need investment in oil, natural gas and coal – yes coal – for the next 10 to 20 years. We just have to manage each sector correctly – be sure the carbon is collected, stored safely or used.
We are smart enough to be sure we no longer damage our planet as we generate more electricity for warmth, growing food, making solar panels, making windmills, keeping our lights on, appliances working, vehicles moving and that is just a few.
The plastic manufacturing and plastic product making industry has finally woken up. They are now working towards “zero” landfilling and recycling all the 380 million tonnes that is made and used every year and that figure will increase every year until the recycling infrastructure is in place.
We simply cannot feed and clothe the people of the world without plastic – and a plant-based polymer will never provide enough supply.
What about hydrogen? It still takes energy to tear water molecules apart, store it or make fuel cells. It costs too much, is dangerous and too hard to store. It is the fuel of the future forever in the future.
So let’s face the facts – dirty energy is with us for a long time yet – all we have to do is invest in cleaning it up.
Grant R. Harrington
Lethbridge