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Environment & Energy

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Brenda

(1,451 posts)
Mon Oct 30, 2023, 09:03 AM Oct 2023

If the First Solar Entrepreneur Hadn't Been Kidnapped, Would Fossil Fuels Have Dominated the 20th Century [View all]

the Way They Did?


One argument put forward in defense of fossil fuels is that they were a historical necessity, because there was no other viable substitute for much of the 20th century. We owe fossil fuels a debt of gratitude, the argument goes, because they supercharged our development. But what if I told you there was a viable alternative, and that it may have been sabotaged by fossil fuel interests from its very inception?

While researching the economics of clean energy innovation, I came across a little-known story: that of Canadian inventor George Cove, one of the world’s first renewable energy entrepreneurs. Cove invented household solar panels that looked uncannily similar to the ones being installed in homes today – they even had a rudimentary battery to keep power running when the sun wasn’t shining. Except this wasn’t in the 1970s. Or even the 1950s. This was in 1905.


What is well-known though, is that fledgling fossil fuel companies commonly deployed unscrupulous practices towards their competitors. And solar was a threat as it is an inherently democratic technology – everyone has access to the sun – which can empower citizens and communities, unlike fossil fuels which necessitate empire-building.

Standard Oil, led by the world’s first billionaire John D. Rockefeller, squashed competition so thoroughly that it compelled the government to introduce antitrust laws to combat monopolies.



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https://www.desmog.com/2023/10/18/if-the-first-solar-entrepreneur-hadnt-been-kidnapped-would-fossil-fuels-have-dominated-the-20th-century-the-way-they-did/
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