Sen. Lamar Alexander on Nuclear Energy
On July 13th Sen. Lamar Alexander held a press conference to propose a low-cost, clean energy plan centered on nuclear energy. I still haven't digested the whole proposal, but it's an interesting read.
C-SPAN has video. Senator Alexander's website has the proposal in PDF format.
One bullet item from the press conference really resonated:
"We want an America in which we are not creating “energy sprawl” by occupying vast tracts of farmlands, deserts, and mountaintops with energy installations that ruin scenic landscapes. The Great American Outdoors is a revered part of the American character. We have spent a century preserving it. We do not want to destroy the environment in the name of saving the environment."
Amen to that! "Energy installations" can be beautiful...
But I'd hate to see the Taos valley scarred over with wind turbines.
Anyway, just now the most cost effective way to address the electricity needs of the U.S. seems to be to reduce demand, by improving energy efficiency. Going forward, since our population is projected to grow by 44% by 2050, we'll probably still need to increase electricity production.
If we're willing to change U.S. policy on re-processing spent nuclear fuel, Sen. Alexander's proposal could work. France provides an existence proof.
Life Shore Gits Tedious
I was hoping to find numbers on total electricity consumption by country, to compare France's production capacity to our own projected needs. Instead I found this Wikipedia entry, which describes the currently-decreasing per capita electricity consumption of the U.S.; notes that the U.S. still consumes considerably more electricity per capita than countries such as Germany; discusses various ways of measuring national energy efficiency (e.g. energy intensity); describes the relationship between population growth and electricity consumption; and so forth.
Why does the reading list never get shorter? :)
