The Solution for U.S. Energy Policy Is Really, Really Simple

Three very good suggestions and best of all, all are current technology, nothing requiring more research or future breakthroughs.   Though the reference to ultra-high-voltage direct-current (UHVDC) power lines,  was new to me and very interesting.

Just about all these points are currently in use, in China.

1. Build Generation IV nuclear power plants.

2. In the meantime, embrace fracking and natural gas.

3. Upgrade energy infrastructure. (that’s the UHVDC part)

Then for the future…

4. Invest in solar and fusion research.

But with the correct attitude towards both.

Solar power is not yet efficient enough. (Highly efficient solar panels are outrageously expensive.) A breakthrough creating cheap, efficient solar power is surely on the horizon, but it has yet to happen. Fusion power, which harnesses the same reaction that powers the sun, turns out to be rather difficult to sustain on Earth. Both are research problems that the federal government can help to resolve by providing R&D funding (as opposed to subsidizing companies). In the distant future, solar and fusion will likely play a major role in powering the planet.

Build meltdown proof nuclear power plants, which we have known how to do for decades and as the Chinese are doing already, build new energy transfer infrastructure with UHVDC to distribute power more efficiently, especially for coal.   Build new, clean, modern coal fueled power plants where the coal is mined and send it into the power grid using the UHVDC lines.  That’s doing something ‘For the Environment’ that’s real.