Dominant Logistics
A Real National Energy Plan
While it is definitely preferential to have the government involved in as little as possible in American society, it is critical to national defense that the nation establishes a legitimate, long-term energy plan. Whether we like it or not, many future wars will be fought over energy resources and the lack thereof. Easy, common sense solutions are available today to prevent the US from getting involved in these future squabbles. Moreover, as the greatest consumer of energy in the world, we have a responsibility to manage our consumption in a sustainable fashion.
While many suggest that energy crises are inevitable, they really aren't. As with everything else in a society, energy evolves just like everything else. When man first exited the cave, he met his energy needs by engaging in physical activities and using bodily energy. Over time, man learned a few tricks like how to use inanimate objects to apply force and how to create fire. Things continued to be learned and ultimately brought us to where we are today. The point is this - as the human race increases in size, we must expand our energy options in order to meet our needs without scorching the Earth.
Addressing the Oil Situation
We need to start by transitioning away from large suppliers of petroleum outside of the western hemisphere. While it is not a bad thing to have numerous and varied sources for any given commodity, the volatility of the Middle East indicates that we should avoid the region as much as possible. Technologies exist today that allow the US to obtain nearly all of the oil it requires from Canadian, Venezuelan, and domestic sources. What I am referring to are oil sands.
Oil sands are tar-like areas where oil has formed but the ground has absorbed the oil instead of holding it in a liquid state. New technologies allow this oil to be extracted at modest costs and the newest technologies reduce the pollution of this extraction to virtually nil. Oil sand deposits are far more prevalent in the world than conventional reserves of oil. Some estimates are that oil sands currently hold more than ten times the known quantity of conventional oil fields. The largest known deposits of oil sands in the world are in Canada and Venezuela. There are also numerous oil sand fields within the US and Russia. Simply put, there is no need for continued reliance on Middle Eastern oil. To expand the long-term viability of western oil, we should adopt a policy that continues to allow for importing oil from abroad but of the total quantities of oil imported, no one nation should be the source for more than 10% of oil imports and that no more than 40% of our oil can come from non-western sources (resulting in no more than 4% of oil coming from any single non-western source).
While typical cars can continue to use gasoline, a certain percentage of vehicles should be powered by alternatives. An obvious option is the use of hybrid powertrains, where substantial portions of vehicle power come from electricity stored in batteries. In some areas, propane and liquified natural gas are also options. In the case of cars, diesel should also be treated as an alternative fuel. Mass transit should be entirely converted to hybrid power. This includes commercial trucks of all sizes, buses, and trains. These types of applications are particularly well suited to the use of hybrid power and can benefit most from this technology. The law should be structured along a point-based system where a conventional gas vehicle is worth zero points, an alternative fuel engine is worth one point, a gas/electric hybrid is worth one point, and an alternative fuel/hybrid is worth two points. Assuming a point total of 2 times the total number of vehicles offered for sale, vehicle manufacturers should be required to meet a 50% requirement with new vehicles. While some will call this over-regulation, it allows for manufacturers to develop their product lines however they see fit in order to meet the requirements. This program allows for the market to be redeveloped along lines that are more compatible with future energy needs.
Similar restrictions should also be placed upon commercial aviation. Due to the nature of aviation requirements, we really can't force hybrid power on this sector of the energy market. On the other hand, there is no reason why requirements cannot be set for fuel usage, similar to the fuel economy standards set for cars and trucks. A new lead-free fuel that is predominantly ethanol (grain alcohol) is already available and should be the fuel standard for general aviation roles (it also happens to be cheaper than existing aviation gas). Larger turbine powered aircraft, be it turboprop or turbofan, should be converted to hydrogen fuel. Commercial airports have the infrastructure necessary to support this fuel and commerical airliners are ideal candidates for the conversion. The hydrogen can be extracted from available water or natural gas on site to minimize problems and vulnerabilities.
Meeting Growing Electrical Needs
The next step to energy independence is to eliminate the barriers to the expansion of nuclear energy. When it comes to generating electricity, no option is available that is safer, cleaner, and more powerful today than nuclear power. Available technologies can be used to make this method of energy production even better.
We need to eliminate the restrictions currently in place that bar the practice of recycling used nuclear fuel. In a typical nuclear fuel cycle, over 90% of the useable material is left after the cycle is complete. This fuel can easily and affordably be reprocessed and reused but this procedure is currently banned in the United States as some politicians consider the materials a proliferation risk. No other nation has this ridiculous policy and consequently, nuclear energy is quite successful in most nations.
Another option is to allow the use of the MOX fuel cycle that converts excess nuclear materials from weapons programs into useable nuclear fuel. Literally thousands of tons of nuclear fuel would be made available by allowing the use of this process. This also becomes an obvious means to reduce existing nuclear stockpiles that are no longer needed. Current plans are to bury this material in Nevada which would serve no useful purpose.
Supplementing the Electrical and Communication Grids
Another step towards energy independence is to require that all large and multi-occupant commercial buildings be required to have their own power source capable of meeting their peak needs. What is meant by this is for buildings to use systems like solar or wind generation that have sufficient capacity to meet their needs even though it cannot necessarily meet these needs on a constant basis. This should include battery systems to provide power when the production system is down.
This program serves two purposes. It reduces the load on the power grid by adding small power producers to the grid as well as eliminating a drain on the grid in most circumstances. But it also serves as a back-up in the case of problems with the grid, be they normal problems or the result of an enemy force. This means that problems in the electrical grid will not automatically lead to problems in the communication grids and other grids that make up the critical infrastructure of the nation.
A National Energy Plan
These concepts should be formed into a 20 year plan consisting of five stages:
Stage One - years one through four
10% of points required for new vehicle sales
20% of mass transit and commercial vehicles must be hybrid powered
All new general aviation aircraft run on new Ethanol mix
Nuclear fuel reprocessing restrictions lifted - MOX cycle developed
Excess military properties made available for nuclear generation facilities
Design airport hydrogen infrastructure systems & aircraft systems
Develop commercial building power generation systems
Non-western oil sources capped at 50%Stage Two - years five through eight
20% of points required for new vehicle sales
40% of mass transit and commercial vehicles must be hybrid powered
Initiate construction of new nuclear facilities
Initiate construction of hydrogen aircraft infrastructure and systems
All new commercial structures must include power generation systems
Non-western oil sources capped at 45%
Oil import sources balanced out to 6% cap per non-western sourceStage Three - years nine through twelve
30% of points required for new vehicle sales
60% of mass transit and commercial vehicles must be hybrid powered
New nuclear facilities come online
Hydrogen aircraft program begins - 10% of commercial aircraft must be operating on hydrogen
Backfitting of power generation systems to legacy commercial buildings begins
Non-western oil sources capped at 40%
Oil import sources reduced to 5% per non-western sourceStage Four - years thirteen through sixteen
40% of points required for new vehicle sales
80% of mass transit and commercial vehicles must be hybrid powered
30% of commercial aircraft must operate on hydrogen
50% of all commercial buildings must be fitted with power generation systems
Oil import sources reduced to 4% per non-western sourceStage Five - years seventeen through twenty
50% of points required for new vehicle sales
100% of mass transit and commercial vehicles must be hybrid powered
50% of commercial aircraft must operate on hydrogen
All commerical buildings must be fitted with power generation systems
This program should result in a considerable reduction in dependency on foreign oil and on oil in general for some roles. This program is also beneficial in that it should be more environmentally friendly as well. A strengthening of the nation's power grid will also occur. And by spreading the burden over a total of 20 years, there should be no problems with markets adapting to the requirements as technology typically brings advances on a much faster pace. In some cases, this program will result in modest increases in energy costs over the short term but it should lead to significant long-term savings as our energy systems require less and less fuel and there is less waste to dispose of.