Unfortunately, here is were politics get into the act and this is why
politics need to be discussed if any sense is to be made of the energy
problem. The US will not and cannot give up the use of coal. Too many
jobs are at risk and the material supplies too much energy that cannot
be replaced rapidly. The other energy sources you suggest will
gradually take the place of coal. Meanwhile, the government has to
make political points by pandering to the coal industry. The country
is locked into many political approaches, both energy as well as
foreign policy (i.e. Israel), that cannot be changed without
overwhelming objection, regardless of the advantages. Once a country
starts down a path based on irrational beliefs, it is doomed. We
started on this path about 10 years ago with respect to outsourcing of
manufacturing, energy sources, banking policy, and Middle East
policies. There is no turning back until the resulting pain gets so
bad that changes must be made. We are not there yet, but these times
are rapidly approaching. The only defense is to be located, both
physically and financially, in a safe place. Science is not going to
solve this problem because it takes too long to be implemented. We
have run out of time. Anything we do now is simply like rearranging
the chairs on the Titanic while debating how the ship should have been
better designed. As the ship gets lower in the water, you will hear
the debate getting louder and louder, but with the obvious
consequence. The people who are not yelling at each other are spending
their energy finding life boats. Sorry to be so depressing, but these
are the times we are experiencing.
Ed
On Jun 14, 2009, at 10:53 AM, Horace Heffner wrote:
The Department of Energy committed yesterday to spend $1 billion in
economic stimulus funds to restart plans for a controversial coal-
fired power plant that promises to capture 60 percent of its carbon
dioxide emissions and trap them underground.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/12/AR2009061202120.html?hpid=sec-nation
http://tinyurl.com/m228mq
What a waste of a billion dollars. Carbon dioxide gas left in that
form will eventually reappear, and it will be even more difficult to
clean up then.
A more promising technology might be a vast solar plus oil burner
power plant complex, where a cellulose containing algoil (algae
minus water) slurry is produced and burned in a pure oxygen
environment so as to produce pure CO2 for feeding the algae. The
nitrogen byproduct can then, in part at least, be used to combine
with hydrogen to produce ammonia products.
I think research on ways to produce building materials (replacing
wood for example) from coal might be more productive for the economy
long term.
Best regards,
Horace Heffner
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/
