The Sun our Ultimate Energy Resource

Phil Yorio is the general manager of Micronesia Renewable Energy, Inc.-CNMI. (Contributed Photo)

Our Mother Sun was formed around 4.6 billion years ago and scientist agree that we have roughly another 5 billion years left before the sun will take its natural evolution from a red giant to a white dwarf and then eventually fade out to a black dwarf. The human race has been sun worshippers on this earth for many years with many different cultures starting with the ancient Egyptians to even when I was a child remembering my mother hanging cloths on the clothesline drying the day’s laundry with solar power, I know she was praying for a sunny day on laundry day. It all starts with the sun, from our fruits and vegetables to everything of any value on this earth, without Mother Sun everything on this planet will cease to exists including ourselves.

So with 173,000 Terawatts of solar energy striking the Earth continuously, which is the amount of energy that equates to 10,000 times the amount of energy needed today to fuel 100 percent of the world’s total energy use, why are we not using this energy for, well our energy usage. How smart we are today as a species on this beautiful planet but why are we so dumb when it comes to energy. We have the technology and it’s improving year after year just as any other industry has over its lifecycle. We are gaining the economies of scale which have brought the pricing down significantly over the last 10 years, we have experts on our island who can install quality systems that can last well over the 25 year warranties of much of the major material associated with these systems, and we have financing options that event if you cannot afford to complete a direct purchase of a system you can still benefit from solar energy and go with a few different programs that solar energy companies offer. With all this, why as the guardians of this precious planet are we still allowing the burning of fossil fuel on our island.

One of the saddest sights I believe that is seen from our island is a beautiful beach side sunset masked by the smoke bellowing out of the power plant stacks from our power plants. With millions of dollars going off shore every year to Singapore for fossil fuel it’s time that we come up with a five-, 10-, 15-year energy plan that phases out these plants for more renewable energy, more storage systems and more reliance on our Mother Sun. It’s funny the chosen few who have held the world and our island hostage for the last 80 years the oil industry is investing all of their profits back into renewable energy not fossil fuel. Saudi Arabia intends over the next three years to invest over $110 billion to become 100 percent renewable energy, fossil fuel free. Imagine that one of the world’s leading producers of oil will be exporting 100 percent of it and not using their own product, unbelievable.

The Good Lord gave us this earth to protect and be her guardian, let’s stop destroying this beautiful planet and use what God have given us, an infinite energy resource that comes up every morning, and let’s hold our leaders accountable to pass smart legislation to help us get there.