O'Shea: Why U.S. solar may be a better bet than Venezuelan oil

TO THE EDITOR: It has now been more than six months since the war with Iran began, and Americans continue to face high gasoline and electricity prices with no clear end in sight. At the same time, there is growing excitement about Venezuela's estimated 65 billion barrels of oil. You would think we had just discovered a brand-new energy source. But before celebrating, ask if we could produce here at home with solar power and battery storage. Those 65 billion barrels represent approximately 110,500 terawatt-hours (TWh — Scale: One TWh can power roughly 90,000 to nearly 100,000 average American homes for an entire year) of energy. However, after extraction, refining, transportation and the inefficiency of burning fossil fuels, only about 38,675 TWh becomes usable energy. Now consider investing approximately $1.55 trillion in large-scale American solar and battery systems. Because solar electricity bypasses the waste of thermal combustion, that investment could deliver approximately 76,140 TWh of usable energy over 30 years — nearly twice the usable energy for roughly half the estimated $3.25 trillion cost of developing and using the Venezuelan oil. The solar development could be spread across 10 large continental states, using approximately 4.6 million acres. It could create more than twice as many jobs, while keeping this investment, jobs, physical assets and energy production within the United States. Venezuelan crude, however, must be extracted, processed, transported and refined. Supplying U.S. refineries could require approximately 1,300 tanker shipments every year for nearly 30 years. So why spend trillions chasing foreign oil when we can invest in American energy that delivers more usable power at a lower cost? The 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil are better left in the ground. For our country, this appears to be a bad deal and a terrible investment. Perhaps it is time to pull back the curtain and ask: Where is the Wizard of Oz? Allan O'Shea Copemish