Alternative Energy Sources That Actually Work!

Ethanol and solar energy are alternative energy sources that may be valuable in the future. But now, they either are not practical or they function mainly to funnel government subsidies to farmers, e.g., ethanol.

But some alternative energy sources are moving ahead at a fast rate.

(Please be informed that I define "alternative energy sources" as anything that has the potential to reduce our dependence on oil, natural gas, and coal.)

Canadian oil sands are the best example of an alternative energy source where progress is astounding. Admittedly, to my surprise, techniques for recovering a product from the messy oil sands have been developed and the production rate for the oil product is soaring. As the success becomes more apparent, money is pouring into Canada from nations, e.g., China, wanting to stake their claim on some of the production.

The success of recovering a product from the oil sands, profitably, is a tribute to the market system. The good news is that there are about a trillion barrels or so of product that can be recovered from the oil sands.

There is some bad news. Environmentally, the recovery processes produce a large volume of waste which is stored in waste ponds. This waste will eventually have to be dealt with. Additionally, some of the recovery processes contribute heavily to acid rain which can damage the lakes and forests in the area.

Other bad news for the oil sands, is that the the drop in the price of oil may, at least temporarily, make it unprofitable to mine the oil sands. Only time will tell! (In recent months, the price drop has been reversed and oil prices are now rising.)

Still, on balance, economic recovery of oil sands products has to considered a success for the long run.

Two other alternative energy success stories - LNG and hybrid cars - will be dealt with in future posts.