Now or Never Why We Must Act Now to End Climate and Create a Sustainable Future by Tim Flannery ISBN: 0-8021-1898-4 / ISBN-13: 978-0-8021-1898-1 US $18.00 - 5 x 7 1/4, 192 pp - Oct. 2009

Excerpt:
Electric cars have been “on the horizon” for around a century and various attempts have been made to commercialize them, all with limited or no success. The problems have been their range of travel and ease of refueling. These limitations have now been overcome by a remarkable collaboration between two companies, DONG Energy, one of Denmark’s wind-energy pioneers, and Better Place. Throughout late 2007 and early 2008, they worked together on a project to bring the electric car to Denmark.

The cars will be fueled from electric plug facilities and it’s hoped that before the end of 2010 such plugs will be available at one in every six parking spots in Denmark. Owners of the new electric cars would pay for their electricity much as we pay for mobile phone credit, via a monthly bill. I asked DONG’s CEO why his company intended to spend hundreds of millions of euros on what looked to me like a speculative venture. He explained that, at present, all of the electricity generated by DONG’s turbines at night was wasted, because no one wanted electricity at that time. If the company could find a market for that power in the charging of electric car batteries, that was a good thing indeed. “We’re about creating a virtual oil field in the sky,” he said.

While it will be balm to the soul to see electric cars proliferate in Denmark, the true significance of this initiative is far more profound. What it tells us is that wind energy can compete directly with big oil.