[Leica] Energy sources

[simon.apekop at gmail.com (simon jessurun)]

What about these fusion hopefulls in France and Japan and your National
ignition facility.
don't they make you feel a little better?
best
Simon


On Sat, Jun 19, 2010 at 5:31 PM, Lawrence Zeitlin <lrzeitlin op 
gmail.com>wrote:

> What ever happened to atomic power that was once touted as providing
> electricity that would be too cheap to meter?
>
> In fact the only two energy sources available for the US to become power
> independent are coal and atomic energy. I served on a NAS committee that
> reached this conclusion 35 years ago after the first Arab oil embargo and
> little has changed since then. The basic problem of the US in using
> renewable or environmentally produced energy is the distance between
> regions
> which produce power and regions where the bulk of the energy is consumed.
> Losses in the power grid make it necessary to construct generating
> facilities reasonably close to big cities. Sure there is plenty of solar
> power in Arizona and New Mexico but hardly anyone lives there. And a lot of
> wind in the Great Plains too, about 1000 miles from major population
> centers. In NY state, where I live, it has proven uneconomic to transmit
> power from Niagara Falls on the western edge of the state to New York City
> on the eastern edge.
>
> Coal burning and atomic plants can be sited reasonably close to where the
> generated power is actually used. The US has an estimated 1000 years worth
> of coal and a large, but indeterminate, supply of atomic energy resources.
> But clearly both types of generating facilities are undesirable neighbors.
> Coal is one of the dirtiest fuels known. Burning it produces CO2, acid
> rain,
> ash, and other toxic pollutants. Mining coal is one of the more hazardous
> occupations known. Atomic energy plants are anxiety producing neighbors.
> Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, although they happened nearly half a
> century ago, still plague the dreams of nearby residents. We haven't
> figured
> out a way to get rid of radioactive residues either. But if the world wants
> energy independence from the totalitarian countries that control the bulk
> of
> the world's oil, coal and atomic energy are our future. (Apologies to
> Canada, Norway, and the UK.)
>
> We live less that four miles away from a major atomic energy plant (Indian
> Point) located adjacent to the prettiest portion of the Hudson River. It
> hasn't been a bad neighbor at all. It pays half our school and property
> taxes, employs a number of local people, and assures up of a reasonably
> reliable source of electric power, although at Con Edison's inflated
> prices.
> We don't need to turn on the lights to read at night. The green glow from
> our finger tips illuminate the pages well.
>
> One anecdote about the atomic plant. Every year at Earth Day there is an
> organized protest at the gates of the plants by groups wishing to see it
> closed. Many protesters arrive by motorcycle, obviously ignoring the fact
> that they are 1000 times more likely to be killed on the ride to the plant
> than if they lived next to it their entire lives. The morale: "You are as
> safe as you think you are."
>
> Sorry for the rant. Now I feel better.
>
> Larry Z
>
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