Have we forgotten about the energy crisis again? As mobility of any form depends upon energy, we'd better not. But are today's solutions just making the long-term problem worse?
I this year have the privilege of being a judge for the GSMA’s 2011 Global Mobile Awards, with the finalists just announced, and you can also get the details on the awards via the above link as well. The winners will be announced at next month’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, also sponsored by the GSMA. This is the most important wireless-industry event of the year, and truly reflects the global nature of the wireless industry. My particular category this year was Green Technology (Category 6 in the listings), and I was very pleased to have the opportunity.
Why? Because energy is among this planet’s greatest challenges, and, like the awards and the event overall, is truly global in impact. And while it may appear that we’re not making a lot of progress here, the broad range of efforts reflected in the original list of candidates (34 altogether; the judging process takes a lot of time) gives me hope that we will in fact deal with the energy demands of mobile communications intelligently and effectively. The technologies reflected in the candidates I considered ranged from zero-drain battery chargers (something I hoped for long ago; these draw no current unless a battery is connected and really needs charging) to recycling programs, solar, wind, pollution monitoring, the engineering of new products that reduce power demands, and many more. When it comes to wireless, we’re doing our part and all of the candidates have a lot to be proud of – there wasn’t a clunker in the bunch.
On the other hand, I’ve watched with some amusement and significantly more disappointment the recent rush to all manner of electric cars. This is a classic example of admittedly excellent engineering with postively emotional marketing, most importantly coupled with a serious lack of end-to-end systems thinking. Sure, an electric car or plug-in hybrid pollutes the air less while in operation. But where does the energy necessary to charge the batteries comes from? The infamous grid. Yes, that fragile, inefficient, needs-zillions-of-dollars-in-upgrades US electric grid, the one that went down in the Great Northeast Blackout of 2003, itself the result of a tree branch rubbing on a power line (can you imagine?). And can you imagine what could happen when all those commuters arrive home, plug their cars in to recharge, and we need to resort to rolling blackouts to deal with the demand? How about cars that don’t charge completely, stranding drivers? How about the increasing cost of electricity as demand goes up? How about the pollution that is deferred from the tailpipe to the power plant? How about replacing and/or recycling all those batteries? What about rescue workers dealing with lots of Amps while trying to extract passengers after a collision? Anyone thought about any of this? Electric cars could turn out to be a serious fool’s paradise. And don’t get me wrong – as a driving enthusiast, I’m as impressed as anyone with the performance of the Tesla Roadster. I’d love to drive one. Now, I couldn’t afford one, so this is academic, but, really, is this a practical car, even at a fraction of the price?
While the distribution of electricity will likely always be inefficient (at least until local generation via fuel cells becomes common, if ever; after all, where will all the natural gas required come from? And what about its price?), the key concern today should be in beefing up the reliability of the grid and employing less-polluting sources of generation. I remain a huge fan of nuclear, and solar and wind have good potential. And, of course, we should all conserve energy wherever possible. I drive Mrs. Mathias crazy by turning off lights in unoccupied rooms, and I feel guilty leaving the servers on at night. We can all do better.
The biggest concern I have specifically with respect to mobility revolves around batteries. It would appear that lithium-based cells are the way to go for now (and possibly a long time; I still have no confidence in fuel cells as a mobile power source). So, where does all that lithium come from? Not here! Think the oil wars are bad? How about the lithium wars? It’s important to keep the reality of supply and demand in mind when making big strategic decisions, along, again, with the importance of a systems-based, end-to-end approach to solving problems. Point solutions can create more problems than they’re worth, especially when hiding behind feel-good marketing that is ultimately of very little value.
