Since oil was discovered and first harnessed in the late 1800's, the world has experienced an unprecedented  growth in population and quality of life. However, we are only, now, coming to the collective realization that oil is a finite energy resource used to produce electricity that is in infinite demand. With news headlines about Peak Oil having been reached along with the growing demand for oil from industrialized countries like India and China, it is time to seriously consider how we will make up for the expected shortfall in energy supply.

What sustainable energies solutions are there?

Considering carbon-based energy has been shown to pollute our environment, we need to be careful that the next energy solution we choose, does not add to the problem. While Nuclear supporters state they can make its toxic elements safe by burying the waste until a future generation has learned how to deal with it, it has been shown that the world has also reached peak uranium supplies, making the creation of new Nuclear plants energy-intensive and cost-prohibitive considering the short-lived benefit and long-term threat. "Clean Coal" emissions are dealt with in a similar way to Nuclear radiation - "Carbon Sequestration" uses great amounts of energy to pump the resulting Co2 emissions into an air-tight chamber, below ground, to be dealt with by future generations. Tidal energy, while clever and clean, cannot escape the problem of corrosive salt water from the ocean and the high expense of turning it into useable energy.

The only real alternatives that can achieve a huge reduction in harmful emissions, while offering immediate benefits, are Solar and Wind. Yet, it is a little-publicized fact that Solar Panels, for all the utopian promise, currently have their own environmental toxins that go into landfill sites after a limited lifespan of increasingly diminished output. Current Horizontal Axel Wind Turbines (HAWT) - as seen in Wind Farms - have reached their maximum engineered size and are based on an out-moded design that only accepts wind passively and is under constant pressure for possible medical risks NIMBYism.