For my science minded followers let me assure you there will be discussion on fusion concepts and applications. When it comes to Energy, and especially Nuclear Energy there always has and will be politics and policy that come into play. The purpose of this blog is to highlight every facet of Nuclear Fusion, which sadly includes the games our government plays when it comes to energy policy. This post today is meant to address the policies of the U.S government when it comes to Nuclear Power, and why the government is wasting your money on projects that cost more, and have less potential than nuclear power and research. When President Obama was first elected and sworn into office in January 2009, he claimed to be a major supporter of Nuclear Power. Most of us know now when Mr. Obama says something it may just be carbon dioxide and nothing else with little or no substance, but backtrack five years ago we didn't have such trust issues. Anyway The President and his administration worked up a deal with Constellation Energy to build a new reactor at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant near the Chesapeake Bay. To make long story short the Obama Administration then rebuked the deal, and instead put down $900 million to build a solar plant in my home of Southern California. Nice right? This story reported by the resilient earth blogger Doug Hoffman goes into greater detail about the deal. Here is the link: http://www.theresilientearth.com/?q=content/obama-killing-us-nuclear-industry
The problem with contemporary energy policy is that we are pumping BILLIONS of dollars into the green energy sector and getting very little return on investment. Why, because the technology is either A unreliable B not ready and in some cases both. Hydro power is the most reliable and efficient out of the main green energy sources. The problem with it is that you need a might river or water source to get some good juice, and I mean big. So putting a hydro plant on the Los Angeles River might power your television and small hut so you can watch Al Gore's channel, but have fun powering the stock exchange to full capacity. Solar power has tremendous potential but again, it is not ready. The batteries on any solar unit will where out in 8 years at the most. Meaning technology wise, solar units have the lifespan of a fruit fly. Besides that with Nuclear Fusion, you get a better deal because think about it; Would you rather take scraps from the sun, or would you rather harness its power and fit it to your needs? If you're in favor of the latter, I know of a green party blog that would better suit your reading indulgence. Lastly we come to wind, which is singlehandedly the dumbest investment in the energy sector out there. And again all we have to do is think, does the wind blow all of the time and at a constant rate? Nope. So then why on God's ocean covered Earth would we pump money into an energy project where the fuel source cannot give you a consistent rate of energy? The government spends billions on these projects and all they do is flop. If that happened in the private sector the business would die.
If the government wanted to truly advance energy independence, they would take my advice and the advice of many scientists. Put money into research, not implementation of potential reliable sources such as solar. Keep the upkeep on hydro plants and build new ones where the potential energy yield generated would be worth the investment. Lastly put more money into expanding Nuclear power with the technology we have and research into fusion power which would single handedly out do any other energy source this planet has ever seen. I'll end on a note to my colleagues at school who may want my head on a spike after reading my posts. I can't see how anyone could reasonably be against fusion power. Look up into the sky, see that massive bright light? It's been keeping life on our fair planet alive for billions of years, and what do you think powers it? Yeah, if you don't like fusion power, you must not like sunlight. Next post I'm going to discuss different theories and concepts on Nuclear Fusion and what a fusion reactor might look like and do. Stay Classy Pasadena
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