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Tuesday, July 1, 2008

The American Energy Crisis and You (cont)


Sorry for the delay in completing this final segment in the series on energy dependance. This section of the report with focus on other forms of energy creation and capture technology. Below I will list options I think have good promise, and I believe that all of these should be aggressivly pursued in addition to the other ones I have mentioned... whatever it takes to be energy and oil independant in America.


Hydro Electric Energy-

A commonly unknown fact is that currently about 20% of energy consumptioon on earth is obtained through hydroelectric power, second only to fossil fuels. However only 10% of US consumption of energy can be attributed to hydro. However, due to the environmental lobby, this is a type of energy that is nearly as handcuffed as our oil industry. In the United States of America there are currently just north of 80,000 dams that block or divert our waterways, but of those 80,000 such structures only 2,378 of them have hydroelectric power capture abilities. That is less than 3% of dams that currently exist that have hydroelectric capabilities. Just by upgrading the 2378 of them that already exist we could get about 4,500 additional megawatts of power per year or enough to power about 3,000,000 homes for the year. I arrived at this number based on a national average of about 700 homes powered per megawatt of power produced (US department of energy estimate). There are also huge untapped amounts of energy possibilities from this that are possible to be obtained both from the 77,000 other dams that could be converted, tidal hydroelectric plants, and other methods of harnessing this type of power. I don't think enough attention is paid to this method and I think it deserves more attention from the government so that they will deregulate it some and let capitalist American get after it.


Geo Thermal Power-

This is another one that I think gets very little coverage. There is tons of options for using heat to generate electricity where naturally occuring on earth. Hawaii and Alaska particularly have great opportunitys for this development. There are some who believe that both places could derive 100% of their energy needs from hydroelectric and geothermal power capture alone.


Nuclear -

Bottom line on this one is if France can do it why can't we. They derive over 80% of their national energy requirements from Nuclear power with no massive accidents. There are so many safeguards and non-bypasseable security features, that meltdowns just don't happen anymore. In fact, in the case of Chernobyl, the trump card for all anti nuclear groups, human intervention and not computer or mechanical failure was to blame for that terrible event that transpired. If humans hadn't intentionally bypassed the safety systems, the plant would not have melted down.

This is a simple cost effective way of producing energy that should have been being utilized for years. We should do this as soon as possible and on as grand a scal as possible.


Solar Power -

In the course of a day in the US over 10,000 times the amount of power we need to meet all of our energy requirements hits the ground in the form of solar energy, we just don't capture much of it to actually use. Solar on its own is not a good option, but why would we not utilize every possible means of harnessing energy. With a new generation of solar panels on the way that are more efficient and much tougher in the elements, we will soon see the day, I believe, when homes will be built with part of the roof covered in solar panels, and you will not have to use city power except on cloudy days. I also think that homes of the more affluent will possibly be equipped with battery systems, so that they can be totally energy autonomus. This will happen soon I have virtually no doubt.


Wind -

Yet another system under utilized in our country. Here are a few links to give you extra info here:
This site contains wind speed maps of the United states as well as coastal areas showing areas that are ripe for wind power plant capabilities. There is an incredible amoutn of opportunity here. An important thing to remember when looking at this map is that they have already removed areas that can't be developed due to it not being possible or due to land use restrictions, that means that all of the areas suitable for usage you see on this map are really useable. Makes you wonder why we are not doing this huh?
Here is a site with some pretty technical info on wind power generators, a little technical but an interesting read:
Here is one that is slightly easier to understand, and it has a nice animation:
If nothing else, I hope that all that I have said in these last few articles has at least somewhat inspired you to look into what other options are out there for energy production. Energy independance is no longer a luxury in this country; it is quickly becoming a neccesity for financial survival. There are so many viable options, but I believe that without a great combination of all of these things, we will never acheive the energy independance that we desperately need. If the US government will just get out of the way and allow the capitalist american spirit that has triumphed for hundreds of years in our great country to thrive again, we will be a great and independant nation again. We must no longer allow these useless special interest groups to control our country. We can be great again, if we would only get out of our own way.

4 comments:

Mandy said...

I read it honey! Just thought you should know.... I'm glad you are done with the case and back to a "normal" schedule now. I love you. Love, Mandy

Aaron said...

Well as someone in the energy business I've got some opinions, obviously. The biggest single issue with many renewables, wind, solar, tidal, is dispatch. Dispatch is the ability to provide power when its needed. Solar produces power in the mid day a time when electrical demand is low, tidal produces power when the tides are changing, but not other times. Wind produces power when the wind blows. The key to making renewables viable power sources is find ways to store the power so it can be released when its most useful.

Solar is never going to be a viable way to power the country but it can reduce the overall load the grid feels. One of the most exciting things I've seen recently is a 55W solar cell with the same footprint as a 3 tab shingle. A patch of them on a roof could provide a lot of power for a house.

Wind is a good source of energy, if you build the turbines where there is a constant source of wind. The west and south west are where most areas that are good for turbines are. Coastal areas can work as well in some places, but the coast is prime real estate.

Tidal has some applications, but current tidal power plants require large tide swings and narrow passes. Most are currently being built in the mouth of bays with large 10+ foot, tide changes. Dispatch is still an issue as they only produce power for two to three hours about four times a day.

Wave power has some uses but capital costs are still high and long term cost effectiveness is in question.

Geothermal is great but requires thermal wells that are easily tapped. These areas are usually located in places with vulcanism or tectonic activity.

Unfortunately this means that most of these renewables are only viable for a third of the country. For the rest of us things like coal or nuclear are the best bets.

Nuclear is my powerplant of choice, unfortunately it takes a decade or more currently to land a nuclear plant and poorly informed civilians oppose what is actually a very safe way to make power.

Alex said...

I totally agree with you. That is why I was saying all of these things should be used, and I agree with you on the dispatch concerns, I just forgot to mention the storage needs when writing the article. I adamantly believe that all of these items combined would be the only solution that can work.

With the coastal wind plants, you aren't building them on the beach, you are building them 10 - 20 miles off shore, where they are not viewable with the naked eye, due to the curvature of the earth, and wouldn't adversely affect real estate. Also, as evidenced in Dubai, Sand terraforming is becoming cheaper and more effective, couldn't we create our own bays to increase tidal power areas? This is a very small item, but every megawatt produced helps.

In my opinion the best solar option is exactly what you are talking about with regards to the shingle size panels for roofs. People could do small amounts of this to at least power their home during the daytime hours when they are not there, and the house consumes the least possible power. If none of that power was coming from the grid, I think that would be a significant amount of energy saved. Another way to utilize solar power in homes would be for all new homes to be built with solar water heaters, with electric backup for cloudy days. Your refrigerator, AC, and water heater account for over 40% of power usage in your home. If we could eliminate some of that, every little bit helps. I'm not saying go back to being amish like Obama recommends, I am saying let's just be a little more efficient and STOP killing ourselves by not aggresivly going after every possibe energy source. Until we do that, we will have problems.

Tim said...

Ok Alex....what about drilling for oil off the coast of Florida. It seems like when we started talking about it the price per barrel dropped by about $8.00. I know that we as a country have a lot of fixing to do but here is a thought...OPEC sells oil for $140.00 a barrel. OPEC nations buy U.S. grain at $7.00 a bushel.
Solution: Sell grain for $140.00 a bushel. Can't buy it?Tough!Eat your oil! Ought to go well with a
nice thick grilled fillet
of camel butt!

Seriously.....If we would become energy independent the US would be a much better place to live. So whatever it takes..Wind, water, solar, ethanol (made from non-consumer grade sugar), drilling for oil...whatever I think we should do it. It is time we took a stand on this.