Twenty years ago, when global warming was first noticed, we realized we needed another form of energy [“Bleak Forecast,” Dec. 6, City Weekly]. It became obvious we should follow the same energy principle Mother Nature had used for millions of years: splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, using energy provided by the sun.
California started its hydrogen-highway program and so did Norway, even though that country has plenty of fossil fuels. Unfortunately, when global climate change was getting more attention, many nonprofit interest groups demanded their say. The fossil-fuel power brokers also became aware they might lose their monopoly, so they organized, with the result that we now have a cacophony of opinions, driven by special agendas. As a result, the public does not know whom or what to believe.
Sadly, it also kicked the can down the street in solving the global climate crisis. It may take decades before we again will be back to the inevitable solution to create a hydrogen-based energy economy. Many will ask: What about cost? Remember that centuries ago, the cost of oil to light up a room was several dollars per gallon, and gasoline was considered a waste product before it was used in the internal combustion engine.
As soon as the government will establish the goal to achieve a hydrogen-based energy economy, the same thing will happen as with fossil fuels. Nearly all power sources can be replaced with hydrogen, and there are many methods to produce hydrogen from water. We now have many other methods to split water and do not only have to use photosynthesis of plants.
PETER MAIER
Stansbury
Speaking of Climate Change
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