I want to avoid as much as possible wasting rare elements [e.g. making batteries].
How to produce electricity?
- Wind power
- Hydroelectric
- Solar panels
- Solar turbines
- Wave and tidal power
How to store excess electricity?
- As hydrogen from electrolysis of water [fresh or seawater, dependent on accessibility].
- A useful bioproduct would be oxygen.
How to use the electricity
- Reversible heat pumps for heating and cooling buildings.
- Hydrogen fuel cells for transport and power generation.
Rather than massive centralized generation [nuclear], they could be virtually anywhere from small to medium scale, since no pollution would be produced. Local production would reduce the risks from hydrogen transportation.
They could then be linked via a “smart” grid.
The technologies are all well known, some could be tweaked, sheer numbers would reduce the initial costs as manufacturing would get cheaper per unit.
Fossil fuels could be used for more important things than just burning it, lubrication and polymers for fuel cells.
- We need to live in smaller, more energy efficient homes.
- Vehicles need to be lighter [with safety of course primordial].
- Roads would then need to be smoother, but would be easier to maintain from the reduced weights.
The objective must be to use the most commonly and easily sourced and recyclable materials possible.
We of course need to
- Farm sustainably.
- Reduce our consumption of meat and fish [I didn’t say eliminate]
- Travel less, covid proved once and for all many of us can work efficiently from home in the family unit.
We need to change our mentality, think small, but lose no comfort.
It will be a hell of a lot cheaper than continuing down the same ruinous trajectory in the medium term [fires, flooding, hurricanes and loss of land and cities from sea level rise].
Just a thought, but we need a plan, now.
I make no apologies for not going all battery and rare earths, someone [we all know who] can mock all he likes and buzz off to space permanently and takes a few others with him.