Mar 27 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Brian Evans The Lima News, Ohio

It's not science fiction.

In the future, a vast array of alternative energy sources will change the way people live, scientists say.

That change, according to a top official of a major technology center, will create tremendous opportunity.

Dr. Joseph Hager, director of the technology transfer program at Edison Materials Technology Center, spoke to a packed crowd Wednesday night at Ohio Northern University.

"Alternative energy currently represents a small fraction of the total energy we have in our society," he said. "We have to look at the different sources, such as solar, wind, biomass and biofuel. ... Their potential, even though they represent a small amount of total source, is great."

Hager said solar energy will grow.

"It may become a larger share of the total," he said. "And wind is a more mature technology. The large players, the large companies, are building wind turbines."

Hager said both wind and solar energy produce power for the grid.

However, he said, Americans want energy for transportation.

"That will most likely come from biomass," he said. "There are two different forms: Ethanol and alcohol. If not that, create biodiesel from oil from plants."

Currently, Hager said, the plants that produce the oil are from seeds.

However, he said, oil from algae is a possibility.

Meanwhile, he said, the criticism surrounding wind turbines appears unfounded.

"I don't know of any data that shows wind turbines are any greater danger than a car driving down the highway," he said. "Wind as a source of energy does not produce greenhouse gases. It does create a visual change in the landscape people don't like. And people don't like change."

Eventually, he said, there will come a day in which people like getting electricity from the wind.

And, he said, all of this means opportunity.

"The one thing that I want to emphasize is that this creates new opportunities for new industries," he said. "It's not completely trouble-free. ... But it creates an alternative supply of energy."

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