Declaration of Energy Independence

Each of the following items need to be addressed like the NASA program was. Set a goal and make it happen, no excuses, failure is not an option.



Item 1: Do the science. Establish goals and timelines. Do it.

While Energy independence affects many aspects of the economy, mostly the economy, it has to be the most important facet of a comprehensive policy. The first step is to determine, no propaganda allowed, how much energy is being consumed, how it is being consumed and where that energy comes from. Once we determine how much energy is imported we set a goal to reduce it over 10 years to a much smaller number, say 20%.


But unlike global warming and most environmental science cut the BS propaganda non-science, otherwise it will remain politics as usual.



Item 2: Reducing Electrical Grid’s Dependence on Fossil Fuels


One of the major users of fossil fuels, and a major determining factor in the economy is the electrical grid. The most economical fuel for plants is coal, the problem is getting the coal to the plants and scrubbing the emissions for pollutants adds to the cost of it. The most economical and cleanest electrical source is nuclear power. Nuclear technology is cheaper, safer and more reliable than any other energy source. Newer pebble bed technology does not require the massive amounts of cooling water and doesn't run the risk of having an uncontrollable reaction. It can also be set in the footprint of most coal and gas fired plants so the existing infrastructure can be used. They are also more flexible allowing for right sizing of the reactor to meet local needs instead of relying on a "bigger is better" mentality.


However, if you have plenty of water and the infrastructure is nearby, build a pair or trio of 1000 MW behemoth light water reactors. At night when the power demand is less keep the nuclear reactors at 100% and draw down coal and gas plants.


Still have excess power capacity? Use the surplus electricity to provide energy for a hydrogen gas plant. Run the hydrogen plant at night when the demand for electricity is lower and instead of slowing down the nuclear reactors that only waste fuel when not at or above 100% capacity.




Item 3: Alternate Energy Sources (Wind, Tidal and Solar)

Allowing that with any power source they will always be the NIMBY contingency. These alternate technologies can help reduce strain on the grid, or may help power remote areas but since they rely on sun, wind, or waves, they will most likely never equal their potential, perhaps 10% of demand.

But these sources are only truly effective when their energy can be stored, not impossible but very expensive and storage systems (batteries) are expensive and ecological nightmares.

Item 4: What do we do with all this extra coal?

Gasification or liquification of coal to fuel. Want to see crude prices drop? All the US has to do is announce they are going to start building 10 new coal cracking plants a year for the next 5 years. Really want to see OPEC's turbans get twisted? Also announce the construction of shale recovery facilities, 5 a year for 5 years.



Item 5: Ethanol


Great stuff for human consumption, really poor choice for an auto fuel. In order to make ethanol you have to take food, use water to make it into a mash, then you distill it by burning fossil fuels to get the ethanol. There is a marginally positive energy return in ethanol. At first it took more energy to make than it released as a fuel, but that has reversed and now it releases marginally more energy than it takes to make it. But the ratio is so close it can flip-flop solely because the cost of grain escalates due to further demand and the cost of the fuel used to get it to market.


The ethanol from corn debacle has totally screwed up the economy, and due to the US's position of "breadbasket of the world" 25% of the food and feed grain we grow we export, often to countries unable to pay the inflated cost of grain. This leads to food riots and starvation and the US will get caught in a humanitarian aid quagmire. It is cheaper and better for all involved to not inflate the cost of food by using it as an inefficient fuel.



Now ethanol from sugar is another matter entirely. Although it is also only marginally energy positive, it is much cheaper, much easier to grow, grows in abundance and can be grown (despite popular opinion) in much of the US. Sugar quotas are frequently lowered from planting to harvest, to keep prices at an artificial price. It requires moderate water so from Florida to east Texas and as far north as Tennessee is prime growing location, although with irrigation the southwest would work as well.


Ethanol can also be made from other wild grasses and other bio-mass.



Item 6: Bio-diesel

Easier to replace than gasoline with ethanol is petro-diesel with bio-diesel. The diesel engine was designed to be run on a vegetable oil based fuel. My suggestions are soy and peanuts as the main crops to be converted to bio-diesel as it would have negligible impact on the food chain.

There are a lot of empty or under utilized tobacco fields that could grow soy, canola or peanuts to be converted into fuel. A fatal mistake the corn to ethanol crowd made was by using food and feed stock crops for conversion to ethanol. They should have studied what crops can be grown on presently open land, or where farmers are paid not to grow and use that corn exclusively. Now all farmers are converting to corn, which is increasing grain prices across the board, and as new ethanol plants come up there is no corresponding drop in the price of corn because there is no surplus.



Item 7: Drill off shore, drill domestically, search new sources of fuel


So what can we do to reduce the price of oil now? Drill off shore, drill in ANWR, start processing coal into fuel, begin refining shale, build NPPs, design a smart bio-fuel program that doesn’t involve burning fuel to turn food into fuel. Set a timeline and announce the goals for energy independence.



Item 8: De-politicized energy program

Another key component to energy independence is to deregulate energy. Make it a free competitive market. Let the market determine which power sources the market will bear. Attempting to force people into a certain type of energy developed by a certain source may sound nice, but may not be economically feasible.



Item 9: Convert fleets, buses and taxis, to CNG/LNG

There is already an infrastructure set up natural gas, but not for retail. As nukes replace gas fired plants and as off shore drilling taps more natural gas it will become feasible to have large stations and depots for CNG vehicles. Until then it is fairly simple to fuel vehicle fleets.
As hydrogen becomes viable (see Item 2) use that for trains. Just like in the 1800’s right behind the locomotive was the coal car. Now a hydrogen fuel tanker, or series of tankers, would be behind the locomotives. Hydrogen could also become a motor vehicle fuel I’m not a proponent of it due to its volatility. But hydrogen’s best use could come from ethanol plants where the nuclear power plant generates the hydrogen during off peak hours. The ethanol plant burns the hydrogen instead of fossil fuel in the distilling process. The VOCs from the alcohol are recaptured and incinerated yielding a gain in BTUs.

Item 10: Hybrid and Flexfuel vehicles

Hybrids are good at reducing short term energy usage but limited in that many people cannot afford them, the manufacturers cannot produce them fast enough. Flex fuel vehicles rely on turning food into fuel. Until the ag-lobbies release their ownership of Washington and ethanol is made from sugar or non-edible plants the flex fuels are a hindrence to energy independence.

Biodiesel, can stretch and even replace diesel from crude oil. Ford and Volkswagen have ultra-efficient diesel engines that get gas milage that exceed hybrid vehicles. The down side is that Americans have a mental block against deisels. Somehow they equate deisel with smoke belching OTR trucks and 1970 era Mercedes diesels. The technology of producing the fuel, like the technology of producing the engines have evolved dramatically since then.

What else can be done now? Stop allowing every state to make up its own gas formula for pollution. Have a coastal non-attainment blend, an inland attainment and non-attainment blend, and a high altitude blend. The mix and match demand caused by various blends is part of the reason there have been supply shortages in the past, and with the aging refining infrastructure can be a serious supply problem.