Is there enough electircity for Americans?

Answer 1

Right now, in 2010, electrical supplies are right in line with the demands although resources are stretched at peak times.

However, electricity is a precious energy commodity just as other fuels are. Huge amounts of electricity are generated by burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. This electricity is subject to the same pressures as other applications that use the same resources. Without suggesting a date, it looks clear that fossil fuels will be in short supply in the future. Pessimists suggest only a few years while optimists predict decades or even centuries of fossil fuel supplies. Whoever might be right, one day we will need to find other sources of energy to generate electricity.

There are already a wide variety of alternatives. Wind and hydro-electric are two well known sources and there is no reason why either of these should run dry. Solar power is still in its infancy and represents an expensive solution at the moment. No doubt, the costs will fall as technology is developed to better harness the power of the sun. The sea contains a vast amount of energy and both wave and tidal generation schemes are being introduced. Again, we should expect costs for these to fall in the future.

The problem with all of the non fossil fuel solutions is that they currently form a tiny fraction of the total electricity generation in the US and around the world.

With present technology and infra-structure, we can expect electricity supplies to run short in the future. We therefore need to hope (and demand) that alternative energy sources are developed in time to meet the challenge of limited fossil fuel supplies. Engineers and scientists have risen to such challenges in the past and no doubt will do so again. The rest of us have an opportunity, perhaps even an obligation, to express support for new energy technologies so that we move away from the reliance on fossil fuels sooner rather than later.