Editor's note: The following column was co-authored by Alex
Johnson, a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University. For the
past several years--until the credit crisis--investors have
flocked toward renewable energy. Their hope is that solar
radiation can be harnessed directly and through intermediaries
such as the wind and biosphere to power the global economy into
perpetuity. This hope is understandable since renewable energy
has benefits that range from the environment to geopolitics.
Nevertheless, care and scientific rigor should be used to
quantify the challenge of converting society to renewable
energy. The maximum theoretical potential of advanced lithium-
ion batteries that haven't yet been demonstrated to work is
still only about 6 percent of crude oil." The most significant
challenge to renewable energy is competition from fossil carbon
--the world's predominant source of primary energy for the past
150 years. Fossil carbon has dominated the energy market for
many reasons--not the least of which is its