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December 01, 2006

Comments

FreeMarketCapitalist

I guess we can attain 25% if none of the nukes
Al Quida will set off here hits any windmills or
biodiesel plants.

amazingdrx

75% renewable in 10 years, 100% in 20 years. That's a better goal.

The devestation from GHG caused climate disaster without that better performance may inundate every major coastal city on earth without it. And the conveyor that powers the gulf stream will plunge the uS and Europe into an ice age.

That will cost orders of magnitude more than this more ambitious renewable energy goal. In fact the energy revolution will pay its own way, and even more, in economic success. Jobs, tax base, and lowered costs from climate related damage.

Engineer-Poet

Even 25% is ambitious.  However, we have no real alternatives.

Brian Wang

25% of renewables in 20 years and then triple US's power from nuclear power. (from 100GW to 300GW)

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epat2p2.html

50% increase from up-powering the existing reactors with nuclear fuel in cylinders instead of rods (more surface area for fuel) and adjusting the liquid coolant to allow for higher temperatures. 9% more power without building any reactors. Then build 100 new 1.5GW reactors.

100GW existing US nuclear power
50GW from uprating existing power.
150GW from new power plants.
Where possible site the new plants alongside the old plants for simpler approvals.

There is 2003 MIT plan that calls for increasing nuclear power plants to 300 in the USA. And tripling global generation of nuclear power.
http://www.physicstoday.org/vol-56/iss-12/p34.html

If we can accelerate the MIT plan to 20 years, then we could add 200 plants instead of 100. There are also currently 2GW nuclear power plants. So if we built the larger ones with the uprated power technology then we could add 200 X 3 GW per plant. 600GW + 50GW uprate existing + 100GW existing. 750GW.

So with an aggressive renewables and energy efficiency program. We could have 1.5TW of renewable and nuclear power in 20 years in the US alone. If efficiency slows the growth of power demand that 1.5TW could be enough to get us to clean (non-coal and fossil fuel power)

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/nuc_reactors/reactsum.html

Develop mass producable thorium reactors for introduction in 10-15 years. These reactors would be able to process the long term waste from the regular uranium reactors.

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