The Power Company

Now is an opportunity for us to shift our electricity sources from nuclear power to newer *cheaper* forms of energy production. The United States Enrichment Corporation, USEC, which originally inherited much of the US government's research and equipment, is facing financial and systemic difficulties, partially due to the high maintenance cost of nuclear power, partially offset by undermarket contracts with the Russians and special deals with the US. Their funds and resources still are depleting rapidly.

Fuel cell power capacity can be built at 1/3 the expense of nuclear power capacity. Fuel cells require hydrogen fuel, available from a multitude of sources. Older fuel cell models have been shown 65% efficient, compared to nuclear power's ~23% efficiency. New biofuel cell models' efficiency remains to be tested, but they remove '75% of the setup's complexity, and therefore cost'. Hydrogen reactions also produce no unfavorable byproducts, just power and water.

The secret trick is what to do with our existing nuclear machinery. We may decide to sell much of our equipment and stockpiles to Europe, or China for that matter. Our nuclear scientists can shift interest into the developing fusion and z-machine reactions, pure science, or other electromagnetic field and atmospheric functions. The EPA can also hope to enforce its nuclear codes and shut down plants aging past ~20 years without building new ones in its place. Some plants will still likely fire for another few decades, and one or two new nuclear plants may even be built, but if we the environmentalists and economists have our say and way that might be the end of nuclear power.

Where will the hydrogen market come from, though? Current infrastructure leads to natural gas. Hydrogen can easily be produced by concentrating solar powered electrolysis, a system of mirrors designed to heat water with the sun's rays, make energy from steam turbines, and zap the steam apart. Hydrogen may also arrive from plant matter depending on agribusiness, or it may come from bacterial photosynthesis. Wherever the source comes from, the fuel cell chain is likely to be both cheaper and cleaner than nuclear fission and most other forms of power generation. The market should get on the stick.

You can help institutions study enzymes using free cycles on your cpu. Download "Folding@home" to help us use new protein structures.

http://www.newscientisttech.com/channel/tech/mg18524865.100.html
-12 Feb 05 enzymes may replace platinum in fuel cells. THAT DAY IS NOW!
http://www.newscientisttech.com/channel/tech/mg18925401.600.html
-26 fEB 06 bacterial photosynthesis adjusted to produce hydrogen gas. Fuel from the sun. Solar hydrogen.