There Is No Way to Prevent the Winners from Winning–and That’s a Good Thing

In virtually all arenas of technology in which there are (or were at one time) many different competitors, we inevitably reach the point that “the winners win and the losers lose.”

In renewable energy, we recently said goodbye (except for niche applications) to concepts like hydrokinetics, geothermal, and biomass.  In automotive, one could say that biofuels took its last breath when Chevron gave up about a decade ago after 30 years of effort, and, per this post, hydrogen expired today.

While I grant that this is a controversial matter, I think that winnowing out the competition and leaving us with the strongest players–to strengthen even further–is a good thing.

In renewable energy, we have solar and wind; in automobile drive trains, we have electricity.  Concentrating on what we do best is, I would argue, the most effective way to decarbonize the energy and transportation sectors—an absolute must if this civilization is to deal effectively with environmental collapse.