Prime mover.
Here comes the sun — shining hope of the alternative energy movement. And rightly so: it's the prime mover of most of our planet's energy.
At present, the world is largely dependent on the energy poured onto the earth by sunlight hundreds of millions of years ago — stored in fossil fuels:, coal, oil and natural gas. For years, humanity has happily plundered that solar savings bank, mainly by running down the oil account.
As a result, we're entering the 1980s precariously balanced between tight oil supply and rising oil demand. We need alternatives urgently.
Coal is one. The world has plenty of it, but coal won't play a full part until it can be processed easily into liquid fuels which suit today's technology. Mobil has developed a way to convert coal-derived methanol into high-octane petrol; at present it's expensive, but we're trying to bring costs down.
Mobil is working on solar, too — with a new way to make silicon cells which convert sunlight directly into electricity. it's still a long-term project, but 11 looks like a pretty hot prospect for the future.
These efforts are part of a worldwide quest for viable alternative energy sources, Including wind, tidal and wave power, biomass, geothermal, hydrogen and fusion. They're all still a long way from making a large-scale contribution — but hopes for the future rest on today's research.
Why should an oil company be developing alternatives to oil? Because we have unique expertise in energy; we're used to investing vast financial resources; and we're motivated: we, too, want to outlast the era of abundant oil.
We've every reason under the sun to be prime movers In alternative energy,
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