energy/infrastructure:

Change is the Only Constant

Few categories in the U.S. are undergoing such dramatic shifts as energy. While alternative energy fuel sources have been developed and used for decades overseas, the U.S. has been slow to adopt alternative energy sources and products such as hybrid cars.

All of this, however, is about to change. With the election of President Obama, TARP, and new legislation dealing with natural gas and a Renewable Electric Standard (RES), combined with the overall encouragement of very large investors like Warren Buffet, Ted Turner and Boone Pickens, the U.S. is likely to become the home of a new spurt of development of renewable resources, from wind to geothermal, bio-fuels to solar and nuclear power.

Of course, no one is sure when and where this development will take place and in what priority. In the short term, many, like Pickens, would like to see trucks, buses and fleet cars like taxis converted to both liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG). Given that 60 percent of this country’s electricity is still generated by coal, others would like to see “clean coal” processes be given a priority.

Some in Congress, many of whom hail from Western and Mid-Western farm states, would like emphasis to be placed on “ethanol” from corn and soybeans. Others are attracted to wind, geothermal and wave power, since these are viewed as continual renewable sources and are perceived to be clean and environmentally friendly.

Putting aside politics and the current tightness of the credit markets, it is likely that all of these fuel sources will be further developed during the next 10 years, in an attempt to make the U.S. independent of foreign oil and to make our country more secure.