Cosmic irony. This is where we find ourselves today. Consider that the solution to some of the largest problems ever facing humanity is locked inside the universe's smallest atom. Hydrogen. The first element in the periodic table, this tiny, non-script atom is the most abundant element in the universe, and it will be instrumental in creating a healthier, more prosperous, and sustainable future for everyone.
Endlessly recyclable, hydrogen is the "perfect" energy carrier with no carbon. When used for energy production, the only bi-product is pure water. Imagine powering your home with your car. Or waking up in the city and actually smelling the roses. Easy to do with NO pollution. And did we mention how quite it will be? Imagine millions of manufacturing jobs opening up to build an unstoppable economic-recovery juggernaut that also just happens to be the best option for climate-stabilization. Hydrogen is the key, and Element One Technologies is about to unlock a future that, until now, has only been a dream.
The fact is, we CAN have a cleaner, more abundant planet. We have the technology. We have the resources. What we have not had, until now, is the economic and political drive to make the hydrogen economy a reality. This is changing rapidly in real-time. The Covid crises has only amplified what we already knew. The old ways are not working, are not sustainable, and are failing us.
Battery Electric Vehicles or BEVs. Clean. Quite. Efficient. The quintessential poster-child for "clean energy." After all, running a BEV car produces ZERO emissions. What could be cleaner than that? Turns out, when we do the math - plenty.
Proponents of 100% BEV as a complete solution to our ever-rising pollution and GHG emission levels leave quite a bit out of their public calculations. No one can argue that tail-pipe emissions are zero. BEVs do not even have a tailpipe. But that does not mean they are as clean and green as we are meant to think. Pamela Coke-Hamilton, UNCTAD’s director of international trade states that consumers are unaware of the real cost. “The dirty aspects of the production process are out of sight.”
First, electric car batteries don't come cheap - both in consumer costs and human/environmental costs. According to TheDrive.com, Tesla model 3 replacement runs nearly $16,000. Second, there's a hidden cost to pay for these large and heavy batteries (about a 1,000 pounds on the Tesla model 3). These large-scale human and environmental cost comes from the extraction and refinement process, as well as the ultra-heavy footprint for over-seas shipping. Displaced indigenous tribes and ever-growing environmental degradation are just the beginning of the hidden carbon-footprint BEVs make.
Read more: The dirty little secret about "clean" battery electric vehicles
Simply put, climate change is upon us - NOW! Wild fires are now "a season". Hurricanes are being fed by the warmer Atlantic waters and then linger longer even overland, Arctic icecaps melting at alarming rates and coastal erosion is occurring around the globe. Extreme droughts are becoming the norm, water tables dropping substantially and massive main feeder reservoirs running dry. We can not wait decades to make large-scale reductions to Green House Gases (GHG), or to drastically lower pollution and CO2 levels in the amounts required to make a significant global difference. As Europe is finding out the cost of "going green" with wind and solar is a mighty price tag especially in the face of low wind season and lack of sunshine forces the increase pricing in energy costs.
The coming climate crises is here, at our doorstep, and mother nature does not wait for anyone. Immediate and large-scale action is required to help ease civilization back to a more sustainable, healthier, and safer zone. The good news is that all the technology we need to make these massive and "immediate" changes is available right now, at scale, ready to be implemented immediately to start producing and utilizing clean energy across the spectrum.