Energy in America

[bearcat22]

Premises:

World wide energy consumption is rising rapidly and will continue to do so;

Energy distribution infrastructure upgrades are not keeping pace with increasing demand;

Imported fuels have net negative economic effects to the American economy;

Energy has a strong impact upon American political policy

Imported fuels make America vulnerable to unstable world politics

Energy producers wield too much influence over government energy policy

Given those premises being accepted, questions:

If there were no government subsidies, which method of generating electricity on a wide scale would be most practical?

By practical, I mean produce the greatest net gain, taking into consideration:

Efficiency

Distribution / transmission from source to use

Overall long and short term pollution

Profitability

Fuel Independence (fuel harvested inside America, not imported)

Sustainability

Speed and simplicity of building more supply of that type of power source

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Feel free to also comment on:

OPEC embargos

Economic collapse of Venezuela due to over reliance on oil exports

Corn/Ethanol and American elections

Brazil burning sugar instead of gasoline in vehicles

Exxon Valdez

Enron

Military budget to protect foreign oil supply

French vs German nuclear power policy

Ukraine:  lithium, uranium and billions in military aid

Defeat of consumer owned power plants, such as Pine Tree initiative in Maine

Solar power harvesting satellites and transmission loss

Fracking and rapidly diminishing fresh water supply in America

Carbon offset market

Bringing things to people, instead of an economy designed around each person having to pay for their own vehicle to chase things; arcologies

The book:  $20 per Gallon

Strategic energy reserves held by Federal Government

Railroads vs. Trucks

Home waste  digesters to make methane for fuel

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Could nuclear power plants be located far enough from population that a radiation leak would be insignificant?

Store the waste right next to the remotely located power plant?

  Instead of power cables, which have transmission loss over distance, charge huge batteries instead, shipping these batteries via a railway supply loop from plant to end use location, returning to be recharged when depleted.

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[swansont]

19 hours ago, bearcat22 said:

Premises:

World wide energy consumption is rising rapidly and will continue to do so;

Energy distribution infrastructure upgrades are not keeping pace with increasing demand;

Imported fuels have net negative economic effects to the American economy;

Energy has a strong impact upon American political policy

Imported fuels make America vulnerable to unstable world politics

Energy producers wield too much influence over government energy policy

Given those premises being accepted

!

Moderator Note

Those are statements of a factual nature, which need to be supported before this continues

“rising rapidly” is vague; it’s a number that can be quantified. Details matter.