Energy Independence

There have been an awful lot of statistics thrown around about where our energy comes from and where it goes. Where it goes is pretty much in our hands as a nation.

Where it comes from has become a problem because through it our national independence has become somewhat compromised.

So let’s look at where we’re at today:

Of all the energy we consume:
39.8 % is petroleum
23.6 % is natural gas
22.8% is coal
6.8% is renewable (including hydro power)
8.4% is nuclear

Now all these figures some from your government’s Energy Information Administration so it’s no surprise that the numbers add up to 101.4% !!!!!!

Anyway accepting the probability that the civil service is ALMOST competent, let’s continue:

Of all the petroleum we consume: 58% is imported
Of all petroleum we import: 37.9% is from OPEC!

Now the same EIA tells us that our consumption of energy is;
29.0% for transportation
21.4% for industrial use
10.6% for residential/commercial use
40.6% for electric power
Oh-oh, here’s that magic 101.4% again.

Oh well, we know the numbers are close to accurate and we continue….

And we are getting to a point – with apologies, because the numbers are very important!
So we arrive at the energy we use to make electricity.

Generation of electricity in the US:

48.6% burning coal (question of how clean) 21.5% burning natural gas (cleaner than oil or coal) 1.6% burning oil (mostly in the Northeast! 19.4% using nuclear fission
5.8% hydro generation
3.2% Renewables and other sources. What do you know – 100.0%

And hidden within all these numbers are the most logical solutions to enacting our:

Declaration of Energy Independence

So what do we do with all this technical information?

I think it was Kermit the frog who sang on “Sesame Street” a song entitled

“IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREEN……”

And that’s what we have to do – we have to examine the alternatives and make some serious changes.

Major increase in hydro-generation of electricity
Major decrease in use of coal to generate electricity
Major increase in use of liquified natural gas (LGN) for transportation
Major decrease in the use of petroleum for transportation
Major increase in the development of renewable resources

And how green is nuclear generation of electricity?

The “pros and cons”

For one thing there are no toxins expelled into the atmosphere – unless there is an explosion.
Once the uranium (U-235) is decayed beyond use for generation, the waste must be removed and stored-somewhere. Where is a question – in a mountain, outer space?

And it is reported that U-235 has a half-life of 703,800,000 years (thank you Wikipedia)
Thus Uranium is not renewable and not a candidate for Green.

So one more change required:

Major decrease in use of nuclear energy for power generation – or anything else
How much increase or decrease of all these items will be required to achieve our energy independence will be discussed in future blogs and we look forward to any suggestions you might wish to offer.