The Sun, The Moon, and The Stars

“Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves…the only home we've ever known”… just a few of those eloquent and prophetic words from Carl Sagan writing in 1994 about Earth as ‘The Pale Blue Dot’ ( inspired by an image taken, at Sagan's suggestion, by Voyager 1 on February 14, 1990)

An analogy perhaps for the man-made accelerated climate change challenge we are all facing could be with the Apollo 13 mission. 3 vulnerable human beings inhabiting the ‘small world’ of their capsule, running out of oxygen and running out of time - they needed the collective and brilliant minds at NASA to save them. Such collective minds are increasingly collaborating across our ‘small world’ – this time almost 8 billion human beings are relying on them.

The crew of that tiny spacecraft inevitably had to use what was to hand – just like all of us must do now. Much of space exploration has of course been enabled by solar power – a renewable sustainable increasingly affordable energy source here on Earth. It is the ultimate ‘golden opportunity’ ...for all mankind.

And so to electric vehicles....and a particular favourite of mind. The Lunar Rover. Pictured above is one of 4 vehicles built by a consortium led by Boeing & General Motors at a cost of $38,000,000. Power was provided by two 36-volt silver-zinc potassium hydroxide non-rechargeable batteries with a capacity of 121 A·h each (a total of 242 A·h), translating into a range of 57 miles (92 km). They were in action back in 1971...

In the meantime, the principle challenges of the EV remain stubbornly in place to some extent. Cost, Range, and Charging. In other words – the battery. The principle challenges of the Renewable Energy industry? Cost, Intermittency, Storage. In other words - the battery. Of course, it's not quite as simple as that, but the battery is at the core of it all.

So, as both 'new' industries are inevitably battling with the incumbents, and whilst there isn’t an historic relationship between ‘the new kids on the block’ – they can help unlock each other’s challenges perhaps. A PV-EV nexus so to speak.

Increasingly ‘the clever money’ is flowing in that direction – including ironically perhaps, the very architects of the oil industry, Rockefeller Brothers’ Fund. If you also add Connectivity and Urbanisation to the mix, there is the potential and indeed necessity for some truly radical changes to motive power. These are likely to include electric buses, taxis, delivery trucks, and personal ‘pods’ that are wirelessly charged – smaller batteries, lightweight, and lower cost. The twin imperatives of lowering CO2 and ensuring clean urban air will drive these – the latter perhaps the key driver in fact.

So as renewables increasingly capture a greater part of the global energy mix - 'the long tailpipe' will be stretching all the way back to the sun - rather than the carbon intense power station.

I say thanks Mr Sagan for gently reminding us – ‘there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves’ We are all here together in that cramped Command Module - Odyssey. However, I am increasingly optimistic that we are on the cusp of capturing the things to hand that ‘happenstance’ or divine intervention have placed within our grasp.

The unintended consequences of a fossil fuelled future world are lethal for us all.