Diversity, The Spice Of Life

     I'm often mystified when I see headlines like I did at ScienceDaily, "Photovoltaics beat biofuels at converting sun's energy to miles driven." Why does everyone on this planet seem to think that everything has to be about competition, and that there always has to be a winner and a loser? If you were going to invest money in the stock market, (would you really be silly enough to do that these days?), would you want to pour all of your money into one company? No, you'd "diversify", by buying stocks in many different companies to help you absorb losses when they happen. Or as I learned as a young child, never put all your eggs into one basket!

     When it comes to energy production, why does it always have to be Solar vs. Wind, Biofuels vs. Oil, Coal vs. Nuclear. Why can't we accept that having a diverse energy production scheme would be the best for everyone? Every type of energy production has it's advantages, and disadvantages. There's no reason that just because one type of energy production beats out another by a couple of percent that the "loser" should be left behind and forgotten about. No one wants a nuclear power plant in their backyard, and you wouldn't want to build a hydro-electric damn in the middle of the desert. Solar energy wouldn't make much sense in someplace like Washington state which sees so much cloud cover, and what's the point of a coal plant someplace where you'd have to transport the coal hundreds of miles to it?

     Like so many other things in life, it's time to dial back the competition and start thinking more about cooperation.

Photo courtesy of Daniel X O'Neil