Quote:
Originally Posted by BWillie
The goal is to get almost everybody in the country to have solar panels. Sure it doesn't make sense for everyone but the majority of the country could have solar panels to create a large amount of their power each month. They are becoming more efficient and affordable everyday.
Or you know, we can just continue to be reliant on foreign oil.
I would think any way to lower our reliance on oil would be a cause for a celebration for your no government types. You can control your estate better without the help of the government.
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We have more than enough oil in our own country that we do not need to rely on foreign oil. We have a ton of natural gas, too.
Right now, there are 2 zero-emissions power sources that make financial sense: solar and nuclear. The big issue with nuclear is the tremendous amount of regulations necessary before building a reactor. A 4th generation, liquid salt reactor would have the following benefits: 1) zero emissions; 2) fuel that could be re-processed, i.e., no 1,000 year radioactive toxic waste); 3) proven safety record; and 4) substantially lower cost.
The difficulty is that in the US, any nuclear reactor has to follow the one model that has been approved. And it's an outdated model that was purposefully inefficient so that the reactors could also process fuel for atomic weapons. 4G liquid salt reactors do not do that. The current approved model has safety mechanisms to slow down a reaction to prevent a chain reaction. 4G liquid salt reactors siphon off some energy from the reaction to sustain the reaction. So, old reactors need a break or the engine just keeps going. New reactors need a gentle foot on the gas or else the engine will slow down and stop.