Everyone knows we have to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Or, so they say. That we need to move towards ‘net zero’ carbon dioxide emissions. That our planet is in dire shape and will face an environmental catastrophe in the near future if we don’t move fast.
In our imagination that sounds simple and reasonable.
However, when you look at it in terms of our physical reality using reason, a lot of issues arise. I don’t hear anyone in the environmental movement talking about them.
So, if we need to move towards solar and wind power and electric vehicles, what does that entail in terms of our physical reality?
Well, for one thing, we will need lots of raw materials, won’t we? Lots of minerals. Lots of copper, silicon, lithium, all kinds of rare earth minerals. Way more than what we produce now. How will we get them? We have a couple of choices. But one thing is indisputable; they all must be dug out of the earth and processed.
We can mine them here in this country or we can get them from other parts of the planet. Unfortunately, and this is a paradox, it is practically impossible to construct new mines and processing facilities in this country because of the green energy movement! And, with our ‘us or them’ mentality, a lot of the planet where those minerals exist is controlled by governments we consider to be ‘enemies’.
Here’s another issue. Mining is an energy intensive industry. It requires massive machinery to dig out, move, and process raw materials. What type of energy is used? Do you know of any earth movers that run on solar power? No, they run on diesel! So, how do we ramp up production of critical minerals while trying to reduce or eliminate our reliance on fossil fuels? It doesn’t make any sense.
Another factor is time. All of this requires time. Lots of time. It takes years or decades to bring new mines into production or to build the infrastructure needed to process those minerals.
You can’t just magically will the physical commodities into existence. That’s the flaw of only relying on your imagination and ignoring reason.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t disagree with the concept in the first line of this article. I’m just saying that when you eliminate reason and rely on your imagination, things will not work out as planned.
