2000. Nuclear and other energy sources

"The bottom line is this. Yes, we will continue to use fossil fuels going into the next decade. If we did not, we would have nationwide brown outs and black outs. But - the march for different and better energy sources will continue."

Relax "greenies". Fossil fuels will still be around in the next decade. All that carbon stuff, including coal. And our President is going to war with one of the "darlings" of the new green energies. Why? It is a waste of money. What is? Wind. If you can read up on wind with an open mind, you will find out this has been a folly. A very expensive folly. But, but, but - what about all this climate change due to our prolonged dependence on fossil fuels? Hang on, as if you are a "greenie", you might not like this answer.

We need nuclear, and lots of it. It is true, the first nuke plants built were not that swift. Expensive, problematic, and lots of spent fuel rods to deal with. But that was yesterday. Even an ardent environmentalist like Bill Gates, is investing in a new type of nuclear reactor. One which is smaller, cheaper, cleaner, and has many less moving parts (like pumps which can fail). Plus, there are some scientists who believe we can use lasers to cut way down on the half life of depleted uranium. In other words, many of the ghosts which haunt nuclear power today, might be about ready to vanish. And that is good for all of mankind.

How about solar? Attention investors: This one might make you a bunch of money. Solar, for a renewable, is the real deal. The cost of using solar keeps coming down, while the efficiency keeps going up. Fact: Every day, enough sunlight hits the Earth to power all human needs for two hours. The name of the game then, is getting enough of that sunlight captured onto something which can turn some of it into electricity. Right now, we are using cheap and abundant silicon, which can convert over 30% of the sunlight into electricity. Futurists believe that so many improvements will be made in the solar industry by 2050, we will be getting 700% more electricity from solar than we are today.

Ready for the wild side? When I was stationed up in Maine in the early 1970's, I listened to a fuzzy headed professor from the University in Bangor talk about using the Bay of Fundy (which is right up the the coast from Maine in Nova Scotia), for tidal energy. He said (which is true), the Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world. If we could channel some of that raw (and free) energy, it could supply electricity to a portion of the east coast of Canada and the United States. Well guess what? Tidal energy is again being discussed today. Unlike the wind which may or may not blow, the tides are a given. Each day, every day, tides are a given.

The bottom line is this. Yes, we will continue to use fossil fuels going into the next decade. If we did not, we would have nationwide brown outs and black outs. But - the march for different and better energy sources will continue. Why? As the former prospectors would say a hundred years ago, "There is gold in them thar hills!"

My personal feeling is we will have more than one major breakthrough during these next ten years. And it will all be good. But the one I think will have the most impact in the 2020's will be the new nuclear. Keep an eye on this one.