ABSTRACT
It is a rather bold claim that sustainable energy is “the key to everything.” But a convincing argument can be made that most problems in the physical environment can be solved to at least a large degree if enough energy is available, if it is inexpensive enough, and if it can be used without doing irreparable environmental harm. Consider the following environmental and sustainability problems that can be solved at least in part with sufficient sustainable energy:
Water: With enough energy, wastewater can be reclaimed to drinking water standards by distillation, reverse osmosis, and other energy-consuming technologies, and seawater can be desalinated.
Food: With enough energy, marginal land can be reclaimed by measures such as leveling, terracing, and rock removal, and irrigation water can be pumped from long distances or desalinated to grow food. Greenhouses can be heated even during winter months to grow high-value specialty foods.
Wastes: The disposal of hazardous organic wastes in landfills, though widely practiced, is not a good idea. With sufficient energy, such wastes can be converted to forms that cannot do harm.
Transportation: With sufficient sustainable energy, transportation problems can be alleviated by technologies such as electrified railways.
Fuels: Biomass sources of fixed carbon can be converted to hydrocarbon fuels for applications for which there are no viable alternatives (such as aircraft) without adding any net amounts of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
