What will it take to get people to use alternative energy sources?

2 Comments

1. Breath on the Wind says:

   November 23, 2009 at 2:18 am

   If you are looking under alternative energy for a question about how to change peoples mind you need to sharpen your google-fu. The proper subject would be rhetoric, mass marketing, advertising or possibly even political science. Once you understand this subject you will notice that although this discussion receives frequent mentions it is rarely a main theme in alternative energy literature.

   There is a basic reason for this. It is a matter of perspective. There are two basic camps. There are vested interests who have been doing business in a certain way for several generations. They are a small group, well funded with a clear agenda seeking to control or manipulate mass opinion. Funding can poll markets to determine what is of interest and what is considered "good." Advertising and paid for "informative" articles will then target what is of interest and considered "good" like "security" or "sex" and hook public opinion and products into these values. From the perspective of this camp there is a great deal of interest in "what it will take to get people…"

   And then there are the masses who are unfunded, uncoordinated, with many conflicting goals and often very little social perspective. The masses have individual needs and desires. It takes something special to motivate the masses as a unit.

   Sometimes this happens after a war or as a result of a collective shock. But it doesn’t last for decades as it can with vested interests.

   What this means is that for the masses to move on a subject like alternative energy sources first the resistance provided by vested interests must be overcome and then a collective sense of purpose should be instilled.

   Practically this might mean eliminating all subsidies and a blackout on advertising similar to what was done during the anti smoking campaign…and you can see how effective this has been but it would be a start.

   Natural gas may be an alternative fuel for a car but it is not an alternative energy source. It is still a fossil fuel. We are now hearing that the US has huge deposits of natural gas. These have been known for decades but the means to extract it has been considered an environmental disaster. With energy more desperately in demand it is felt that this will be overlooked.

   Since it is a "research" project, I would not want to simply do your work for you, but I hope I have suggested some new avenues for exploration.
2. Bflowing says:

   November 23, 2009 at 2:18 am

   You have to make sure you consider the economic impact on the individual in switching to alternative energy sources.
   There are many people who would love to switch to a hybrid, for example, but can’t afford it. It is the cost of such a switch that is most important.