Samson
Póg Mo Thóin
I'm wondering. Who out there believes the USA is capable of becoming energy independent. Do we have that capability?
In forming your answer please consider all the energy needs that exist from household lighting, heating, cooling to all forms of transportion to all our industrial and recreational needs.
Target 2050 to have 100% nuclear fueled electricity generation.
The risks aside, building a nuclear power plant is one of the most energy-intensive and expensive projects on the face of the earth. Refining and transporting Uranium is also extremely dangerous, expensive, and Uranium itself is also finite. There's also no long term exit strategy for storage of nuclear waste.
Current fission technology is not the way. Wind and hydro are far more palatable options. Ultimately, imo, we have to look at fusion.
Ultimatlely we could look at fairy farts and eat rainbow stew.
I'm talking about solutions in the near future that already exist: Not to have built a nuclear generator during the past 35 years is simply stupid. Is it the perfect solution? No, I'll not argue that ANYTHING is perfect.
Perhaps you'd be happy living in a mud hut, but most Americans live atop one another in urban environments with little room for solar arrays and windmills (niether of which are inexpensive or easy to build on any useful scale).