I’m constantly amazed at how little action our government is willing to take to give us energy independence. The liberals seem to be stymied by the environmentalists, the conservatives seem to be stymied by big oil. Meanwhile, the country is at risk from foes, foreign and domestic due to our reliance on foriegn oil. One of the few enumerated powers the federal government actually has is to provide for our protection. The federal government is falling short – they need to man up and do something.
1. Immediately start building nuclear power plants. It will take years to get the reactors online, so we need to start several years ago, but now is the best we can do.
2. Once the nuclear power plants are online, we can stop using coal and oil to provide for our electricity (we need to maintain backup power plants though, so don’t destroy them – just take them offline). We need to keep doing everything we can to increase solar, wind and hydroelectric power production. But that shouldn’t be our only options – they just aren’t sufficient to the task.
3. Start producing Jet fuel and Diesel from Coal and Natural Gas. The process is well known (Fischer Tropsch). We can then have a steady supply of fuel for our aviation and transportation industries.
4. Increase fuel efficiency of our cars. This is low lying fruit that is easily accomplished if the industry would get off their collective butts. The electricity from the nuke plants can power our cars for those of us who do short commutes to work, school or shopping.
5. Long term, we need to think about building solar collectors in space. The sun is a wonderful fusion reactor that burns all the time. It’s literally throwing energy in all directions 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Lets get up there and collect it!
On another related topic – we need to start building massive desalination plants also. Our costal communities import the majority of their water from other areas of the country when they have the oceans of water within miles. This water can be used to grow food, biomass for biofuel projects and help lower green house emmissions (plant more trees!)
Epiphany Brewing (tm) 
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December 11, 2008 at 1:42 am
rhagerbaumer
This was from Obama’s pre-election website. There is enough couch language in the statement to damn near guarantee another nuke plant won’t be built for at least 8 years. This is a sad time for Americans.
Safe and Secure Nuclear Energy. Nuclear power represents more than 70 percent of our noncarbon generated electricity. It is unlikely that we can meet our aggressive climate goals if we eliminate nuclear power as an option. However, before an expansion of nuclear power is considered, key issues must be addressed including: security of nuclear fuel and waste, waste storage, and proliferation. Barack Obama introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to establish guidelines for tracking, controlling and accounting for spent fuel at nuclear power plants. To prevent international nuclear material from falling into terrorist hands abroad, Obama worked closely with Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN) to strengthen international efforts to identify and stop the smuggling of weapons of mass destruction. As president, Obama will make safeguarding nuclear material both abroad and in the U.S. a top anti-terrorism priority. In terms of waste storage, Barack Obama and Joe Biden do not believe that Yucca Mountain is a suitable site. They will lead federal efforts to look for safe, long-term disposal solutions based on objective, scientific analysis.
In the meantime, they will develop requirements to ensure that the waste stored at current reactor sites is contained using the most advanced dry-cask storage technology available.
December 11, 2008 at 1:44 am
rhagerbaumer
Ultimately, we should be collecting solar energy out in space. Any science fiction fan would recognize the idea of building a ring or a shell around the sun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringworld). I’m not proposing a Ring World – just collectors. Keeping it simple.
Before you start, yes, the sun is also a finite resource. It too will burn out someday in a horrible cataclysmic event that will end human life as we know it. It’s a tragedy in the making.
My intention is to reduce our reliance on oil. If we stop using our coal, oil and natural gas to generate electricity, we can use it make fuel for our planes, trains and automobiles (see Fischer Tropsch process mentioned earlier – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer-Tropsch). We can stop importing foreign oil while we work on the long term solution and still have groceries on the table and heat for our homes. Win win.
I think short term we need to have more solar panels here on earth. There are millions of acres of desert not in use. Every rooftop could have a solar array. You should note that solar panels are horrible for the environment – they’re as toxic to make as computer chips. http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9889848-54.html
December 11, 2008 at 1:45 am
rhagerbaumer
I saw a Shell commercial for Gas to Liquid fuel. It’s really only a matter of time till we start hearing about CTL, coal to liquid. I guess they’re opening a huge GTL refinery in Qatar in 2010.
This will help any short term fuel shortages. It also makes extremely clean diesel (low soot) for those of us with diesel engines.
December 11, 2008 at 1:47 am
rhagerbaumer
And theres this: 53,000 BPD COAL-TO-LIQUIDS FACILITY WELLSVILLE, OHIO2012-2105. Coal-to-Liquid production in the USA! Fantastic news. The South Africans (Sasol) have been doing this for years and the Chinese are building new plants at a frantic pace.
November 16, 2009 at 1:40 am
rhagerbaumer
Interesting tidbit… see, watching SNL is educational!
http://www.ecofactory.com/news/japan-announces-first-space-based-solar-farm-111109
Japan’s space agency, JAXA, announced that they plan to build the world’s first space-based solar power station by 2030 due to positive results from over 10 years of research. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a key contributor to the project, and has stated that space based solar power, which does not have to cope with atmospheric losses, has the potential to stop the energy shortage and climate crisis. In addition to being indifferent to the weather, solar cells in space are thought to be able to capture about five times more energy than their terrestrial brethren.