REFLECTOR: Energy Sources

[Chuck Harbert]

Although I think we probably shouldn't be discussing GW (no pun intended), 
but since the door has been opened, I'd like to add my 2 cents worth, 
especially if we plan to continue flying our V's at a reasonable cost in the 
future.

----------------

Ronnie wrote:
And, it uses (ethanol) just about a much energy to make the stuff as it 
produces.

Sorta like the hydrogen economy - its going to take a lots of electricity -
as in nuclear to make all that hydrogen.

--------------------

I'm not going to argue whether we know for sure that there's GW going on or 
not, but I think we'll all agree that the N.Pole is melting pretty rapidly 
and Greenland is showing signs of problems. Whether that's due to burning of 
fossil fuels is debatable, but it could be. Given that,we have a choice, 
either do nothing and continue to increase our use of oil, coal, gas, 
etc.,or start figuring out how to develop a better fuel source that reduces 
CO2.

I don't think ethanol is the answer, but it is better than fossil fuels 
because it's CO2 neutral. By just growing corn, it eats up CO2 which is then 
released when it is burned, and most of all it isn't sent overseas to our 
buddies and bankrupting the country.

The only real viable answer is to get moving on hydrogen. If we can go to 
the moon, we should be able to build hydrogen plants. Hydrogen powered cars 
already exist and are the same as any gas powered vehicle (propane, natural 
gas, etc). The real question is how do we make the electricity to make the 
hydrogen. We have huge coal and oil shale deposits, but unless we pump the 
CO2 underground afterwards(currently being done on test basis), it's not 
going to reduce CO2. Non-CO2 energy sources are hydro, wind, solar, and 
nuclear-all of which have their problems, but are pretty established 
technologies.

Fortunately, the US can pursue all of these here. The upper midwest has 
enormous potential for wind farms. The southwest has large deserts for solar 
power. Hydro in AK could be tapped. Finally, nuclear is currently under 
consideration again for the US (even the Sierra Club says that overall it's 
on balance the best energy source).

In order for this to happen, we need real leadership from our government. 
Even if you don't consider GW, I'd like to see us develop energy 
independence. If we reduce our dependance on foreign oil, the price should 
not continue to increase, and this should make it less problematic for us to 
fly our V's. It's a choice and I hope we make the right one.

Chuck H