A Fresh Perspective on Clean Energy

With the growing push to embrace more green energy initiatives, there will naturally be some conflicting information available that could cloud the understanding of the issue. We’re all about facts and seeing things from all sides. So, with that in mind, we wanted to evaluate this topic as fairly as possible to keep you well informed.

Green Energy Initiatives

Without a doubt, the call to have electric vehicles replace traditional gas-powered vehicles has risen to a fever pitch over the last few years. As it’s become an integral part of the green energy initiative, so too have the efforts to reduce or eliminate fossil fuels altogether. And make no mistake about it — the goals of the green initiative proponents are noble. Their thinking is that if the world reduces or eliminates its dependency on fossil fuels and relies solely on renewable energy from wind and solar, we’ll see a collective positive impact on climate change as a whole. As we’ll show you in a bit, the facts don’t necessarily support that hypothesis. But thankfully there are other existing viable options — as well as recent breakthroughs — that offer new hope for cleaner alternative energy sources.

Clean Natural Gas

To be clear, the cheapest and best energy source is natural gas because it burns the cleanest compared to coal. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, burning natural gas for energy results in fewer emissions of nearly all types of air pollutants and carbon dioxide (CO2) than burning coal or petroleum products to produce an equal amount of energy. That’s why locally Xcel has been transitioning to renewables. As we saw over the summer when oil prices went up significantly due to not having pipelines available or built out, the price of gas went up dramatically. Comparatively, natural gas is a much cheaper alternative. Plus, more practically, engines would last 2-3x longer if they were built to use natural gas. But we know that’s just not a direction we’re going in. As we said in the intro, the push now is towards electric and away from gas powered vehicles. But is that really possible? Read on to find out!

The Truth About Electric

The truth is, electric vehicles contain about 50% plastic. And plastics come from petrochemicals that are derived from oil. Simply stated, there’s a symbiotic relationship between oil and electric. So that instantly dispels the notion that electric cars will eliminate the need for, or dependency on, fossil fuels. The plastics made from petrochemicals serve to make electric vehicles more durable, lightweight, and inexpensive. In fact, the more plastics are used in an electric car, the better range that car can expect to produce on any given charge. According to the American Fuel & Petrochemicals Manufacturers, although it seems counterintuitive, petrochemicals derived from oil and natural gas make the major advancements by today’s EVs possible – and the continued use of petrochemicals will mean that both EVs and traditional vehicles will become even lighter, faster, and more efficient.

Recent Breakthrough

That’s great news for EV lovers. But there’s even more exciting news for the possibility of cleaner energy options. The recent announcement from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced the first controlled fusion experiment in history to reach a scientific energy breakeven. That means it produced more energy from fusion than the laser energy used to drive it! The environmental implications of this achievement are staggering. As U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer said, “This astonishing scientific advance puts us on the precipice of a future no longer reliant on fossil fuels but instead powered by new clean fusion energy.”

UCEC. Control Panels for All Partners.

At UCEC, we find all of this to be very exciting. After all, everyone is interested in energy and uses it, so we’re proud to have partnered over the years with a lot of natural gas companies that have been providing low cost, efficient, clean energy. Not only that, but we’ve also done control panels for all kinds of energy companies, including coal fire, solar, and wind.

And now, we continue to look forward to working with partners on emerging technologies, whether that be fusion energy or battery recharging stations. Regardless of whether you source your energy from traditional natural gas or clean coal, or new technologies like solar, renewables, and fusion technology, we’ll be there to provide the control systems for it. Honest.

As always, you can connect with our experienced team to get a quote, ask a question, or just learn more.