We’ve all heard the buzz word “Green Economy” a lot these days and anyone you ask will gladly hop on the bandwagon that an economy powered by green energy is nothing but a good thing. It’s pretty much a no brainer that clean energy is ideal since it gets us out of this destructive cycle of sacrificing our environment to keep the engine of commerce humming along. The problem is no one ever wants to discuss the big elephant in the room, which is, how do we make the transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources in a way that is sane and, frankly, more realistic than government mandates and the warm fuzzes we get from paying more for less when we buy “green” technologies. The current solution has been government subsidies on renewable energy technologies as well as more extreme initiatives like carbon cap and trade policies all which artificially inflate the desirability of the products we need to be using to ensure a sustainable future for our children. 

We echo the line of reasoning put forth from Michael Levi from the Council on Foreign Relations that all paradigm shifting technologies tend to come into existence to satisfy a need and economies form around them because they are inherently useful. In other words, there was demand for the technology once people realized they could benefit from it in a way that was more efficient than the technology it replaced. Clean energy technologies have not yet reached the point where they are more efficient than existing energy technologies, and by efficiency, I refer to all relevant factors such as cost (financial, moral, and environmental), ease of manufacturing, and marketability. All the good intentions in the world simply cannot power economies and the harsh reality is that people will typically do their part to save the environment, provided it’s cost-effective for them to do so.  Once again, referring to Michael Levi’s article, the internet did not become popular because the government subsidized it, artificially penalized older communication infrastructures, or mandated its use through legislation. On the contrary, it became a defacto platform because it was useful to markets and there were ever expanding benefits to leveraging it. 

Now that we have reached Peak Oil, the necessity to transition away from fossil fuels has reached a point of sobering inevitability. Moving forward, we, as a civilization, will have to find ways to extend our diminishing resources. As supply decreases, the quality and the cost of fuel will unavoidably invert. Since it is unrealistic to expect people to simply toss away their combustion powered cars, bikes, boats, and other equipment we must look for ways to adapt to an impending crisis by providing a path of least resistance. With these added aspects of responsibility placed up the shoulders of the modern consumer one must ask themselves, ‘Is there a better way I can make a difference?”  The answer might be as simple as changing the way we think about the future of transportation and manufacturing to include the absence of oil itself.  It is the fact that no one can deny. We are running an oil based race where the finish line is an unknown to us all. We at Motor Whiskey are thinking about the future and what we can do every day to make a difference. Biogas and futuristic new Diesel’s are the way of the future.  Plan on growing with us in this new and exciting time.  As a close friend Lief Edvisson once said, see you in the future.