{"id":8697,"date":"2015-06-01T06:01:18","date_gmt":"2015-06-01T11:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=8697"},"modified":"2015-06-01T06:01:18","modified_gmt":"2015-06-01T11:01:18","slug":"revolution-more-like-a-crawl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=8697","title":{"rendered":"Revolution? More like a crawl"},"content":{"rendered":"<header>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/agenda\/story\/2015\/05\/energy-visionary-vaclav-smil-quick-transformations-wrong-000017\" target=\"_blank\">Revolution? More like a crawl<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/header>\n<p class=\"subhead\"><strong>The energy visionary Vaclav Smil \u2014 Bill Gates&#8217;s favorite author \u2014 says that when our leaders promise quick energy transformations, they&#8217;re getting it very wrong.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"normaltextrun\">America<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">in 2015<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">finds itself<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">almost in a new<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">energy<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">reality.<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0It\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">recently became the<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">world\u2019s<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">second<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">&#8211;<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">largest extractor of crude oil, and since 2010 has been the leading producer of natural gas,<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">whose<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">abundant and inexpensive supply has been accelerating the retreat from coal<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">as a national source of electric power.<\/span><span class=\"eop\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"normaltextrun\">Some see<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">this as the beginning of an even bigger transition, one in which<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">America\u2019s<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">dominant<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">status as a<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">producer of hydrocarbons<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">ends<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">its allies\u2019<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">dependence on Russian gas and<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">makes<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">OPEC terminally irrelevant,<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">while<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">its entrepreneurial drive helps it<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">quickly advance<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">to harness<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">renewables<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">and reduce<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">greenhouse gas emissions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"normaltextrun\">All of this sounds too good to be true \u2014 and it is. Indefensible claims of imminent transformative breakthroughs are an unfortunately chronic ingredient of American<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">energy debates.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"story-interrupt pos-beta format-m \">\n<aside class=\"interrupt-item\">\n<div class=\"story-media\">\n<figure class=\"media-item type-photo\">\n<div class=\"fig-graphic\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.politico.com\/f5\/fa\/bc1c380f45d09ea3ae13ec8cdfaa\/secondary-smil-2-3.jpg\" alt=\"Vaclav Smil is pictured.\" \/><\/div><figcaption>Smil says the U.S. is undoubtedly experiencing two notable energy transitions \u2014 from coal to natural gas and from fossil fuels renewables in electricity generation. | Andreas Laszlo Konrath \/ Trunk Archive<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"normaltextrun\">When<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">American leaders talk about energy transitions, they tend to sell them as something that<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">can be accomplished in a matter of years. Al Gore, perhaps the country\u2019s most prominent<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">climate<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">activist,<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">\u202f<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">proposed to \u201cre-power\u201d Ameri<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">ca, making its electricity carbon-free, within 10 years, calling the goal \u201cachievable, affordable and transformative.\u201d<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">That was in 2008,<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">when fossil fuels produced 71<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">percent<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">of American electricity; last year<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">67 percent still came from<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"normaltextrun\">burning fossil fuels.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>President Barack Obama, who has a strong rhetorical dislike of oil \u2014 although kerosene distilled from it fuels the 747 that carries him to play golf in Hawaii \u2014 promised in his 2011 State of the Union message that the country would have 1 million electric cars by 2015. That goal was abandoned by the Department of Energy just two years later.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;click on the above link to read the rest of the article&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Revolution? More like a crawl The energy visionary Vaclav Smil \u2014 Bill Gates&#8217;s favorite author \u2014 says that when our leaders promise quick energy transformations, they&#8217;re getting it very wrong. America\u00a0in 2015\u00a0finds itself\u00a0almost in a new\u00a0energy\u00a0reality.\u00a0It\u00a0recently became the\u00a0world\u2019s\u00a0second&#8211;largest extractor of crude oil, and since 2010 has been the leading producer of natural gas,\u00a0whose\u00a0abundant and inexpensive [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[113,147,5935,5930,328,349,1115,1535,554,588,600,674,694,5934],"class_list":["post-8697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-energy-2","tag-carbon-emissions","tag-coal","tag-energy-revolution","tag-energy-transition","tag-fossil-fuels","tag-gas","tag-greenhouse-gas-emissions","tag-hydrocarbons","tag-natural-gas","tag-oil","tag-opec","tag-renewable-energy","tag-russia","tag-vaclav-smil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8697"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8698,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8697\/revisions\/8698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}