Weare currently in a transition to sustainable energy sources with solar and wind. They each have their pros and cons. Which one we emphasize in a portfolio of energy sources depends on the use case.

This contest between wind and sun has been going on for time immemorial. Long before points of time in the past so long ago that people have no knowledge or memory of it. I’ll tell you a story of the first contest, but first, let’s review how we got here.

We love fossil fuels because of their portability and energy density. But over time, at the scale we now deploy them, they have become problematic.

We love gasoline because it is so energy-dense and portable.

Gasoline has an energy density of around 44 megajoules per kilogram. In American values, that is 1.3 × 108 J/gallon. That is dense, and that makes it convenient.

Liquid hydrocarbons like gasoline are the densest way known to store chemical energy at scale economically. We are addicted to them.

These fuels saved us from a pollution problem more than a century ago.

There was a dire problem facing urban environments: horse manure. City planners once faced severe health and safety issues surrounding too many horses.

The internal combustion engine (ICE) and transition to gasoline as fuel solved it.

Breakthrough engines powered by oil and gas solved that problem. These inventions drove a century of economic development and growth.

Now our reliance confronts us with another set of severe existential problems.

Our search for sustainable alternatives has led us to wind power and solar energy. They are competing as alternative energy sources.

There are many winds named by the ancients: Zephyr, Sirocco, Boreas, the North Wind, and others.

Zephyr is the warm and gentle breeze out of the west. It is the summer breeze that blows around at the time of the summer solstice. Zephyr is the Greek god of the west wind, the gentlest wind.

Sirocco is the hot southern winds originating as dry desert-air flowing northward. Sirocco winds blow during autumn and spring.

The greatest of winds is the cold north wind, Boreas. It is the mighty winter wind.

There are other winds: Levante, Tramontane, Mistral, Libeccio, and Gregale to name a few.

Here is a tale about the winds and the sun and their competition.

Boreas and Phoebus

The winds are a proud bunch.

The winds have a long pedigree of having their power harnessed. The winds have always assisted people, performing work in the service of humanity.

Windmills. Don Quixote tilted at them. The Dutch used them to power their grain mills.

Wind in the sails of ships powered the Age of Exploration.

There is only one sun.

The sun has been our unsurpassed best friend for providing light and warmth.

The sun is crucial to carbon-based life by catalyzing photosynthesis. It is how plants pull carbon is out of the air. Carbon forms the fundamental backbone of the long-chain molecules of all forms of life. It is an essential process for creating plants, animals, and us.

So, who is more powerful and essential, the winds or the sun?

The winds are prone to gang mentality and want to force the issue of who is more powerful: the winds or sun? They itch to challenge the sun to a contest.

Phoebus is not prone to having its position challenged or questioned.

The sun proposes a challenge to settle the issue. The winds are many, and their mutual agreement fuels their hubris. The sun keeps its own consul and is far craftier.

They all agree they can’t ask a human to decide who is more powerful. They exist on a different level and only can communicate with mortals via their actions. They need to find an unsuspecting person to act as an unbiased agent in this epic determination.

Then they can bring to bear their might on this pawn on their chessboard.

They see a fellow walking along the road. He is wearing a beautiful coat that he treasures. The sun proposes a contest: who can make him remove his grand garment?

The winds go first, and they brew a big storm. The traveler keeps clutching his coat tighter as the winds howl. They whip and buffet our poor unsuspecting pawn, coercing him to relinquish his jacket.

But he clutches his mantle for dear life. His coat is all that stands between him and certain death by freezing. This struggle continues until the winds have exhausted themselves. They retire and gripe among themselves.

Then it’s the sun’s turn. The winds die down, the clouds part, and the sun shines strong. After a few minutes, the man sits down on a grassy knoll above the road by a rock and takes off his coat.

That is the story of how the sun’s persuasive power won the day over the coercive bluster of the winds.

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