Potential of Wind Power in the US

NREL Land and Offshore Wind Speed

The US has a massive potential for wind power.  All along the eastern and western coastline the wind is ripe to be taken advantage of.  The mid-west also has massive potential for the technology along with the great lakes area.  A massive boom to our economy could be had by tapping into this massive source.

NREL has provided extensive work for us in this regard.  As can be seen there is a massive wind corridor in the Midwestern US.  It is concerning we haven't seen more effort to take advantage of this.  Considering the unemployment situation in the US especially in those precise areas, surely it would be beneficial to push for the building of wind power infrastructure.

It is true that new oil finds in the Dakotas have quelled the Peak Oil fears.  This of course does not mean that there won't be threats to the oil supply because of other reasons.  Regardless of these finds I haven't seen any reduction in fuel prices.  And even if we could have all the petroleum we wanted, I doubt the greenhouse gas emissions would bode well for our future along with our children's.

Looking at the numbers and potential it is clear that investment in a wind power corridor would bring prosperity and jobs to a region blighted by the loss of manufacturing jobs.  In the midwest there is a large willing workforce ready to get back to making things.  Constructing wind turbines to be used in the very same area they are manufactured would bring prosperity to a once prosperous region now called the rust belt.  Not only that, the massive amount of electricity produced could be sold east or west; a benefit of being right in the middle.

Of course the corridor is closest to the west, which is the same part of the US which has some of the fastest expanding electrical demand.

The coastline is also remarkably viable for wind turbines.  All along the eastern and western coasts of the US there is ample wind to run turbines.  Strong wind potential is found throughout.  It is a wonder that the idea hasn't taken off, nor has private industry stepped in.  There is remarkable potential for profit, especially if the equipment can be manufactured locally so it doesn't have to be shipped long distances.  Turbine parts are expensive to transport considering their large size.

There is already manufacturing infrastructure in place in the northeast and midwest.  And there are lots of people in need of jobs in these areas as well.  Enhancing wind generation and supply would be great way to add jobs as well as provide for the energy needs of our future economy.

Thorium Reactors: A Stepping Stone to Fusion

There is a technology that lets us create syngas and electricity at the same time to power our economy.  The waste products of the technology cannot be efficiently weaponized.  It is remarkably abundant and cheap, having the potential to solve energy problems in third world countries.  Reprocessing occurs continuously as a result of the process, leaving behind almost zero waste.  Not just that, but it is inherently safe in design with no chance of dangerous situations like meltdowns.  It sounds like something out of science fiction really, but the thorium reactor is actually a technology from the 1960's that is easily realizable today.

Diagram of the Thorium MSR at ORNL

There was research throughout the 1960's on this particular type of molten-salt reactor design.  In 1964, the US built the first thorium breeder reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  The reactor operated for the equivalent of about a year and a half of production use.

Thorium prevents proliferation, since the materials used are difficult to weaponize.  The US discovered this early on since it was decided against thorium for that exact reason.  In the US's case, a weaponizable fuel cycle was desired due to the military situation of the times.

For scale, by converting all existing US nuclear reactors to use thorium fuel, our electricity demand would be resolved for at least the next few hundred years.  The countries that have the fastest growing electrical demand, India and China, are going straight to thorium for the aforementioned reasons.  Thorium is about four times as common as uranium in the earth's crust.  Unlike water based reactors, there is no need for a natural source of water such as a river or lake in the vicinity for cooling purposes.  This makes them usable in deserts or even in extraterrestrial operations such as on the moon, where there is a sizable amount of thorium.  If that wasn't enough, thorium even has a unique electrical signature that lets us locate deposits very easily.

Kirk Sorenson Discussing Thorium at TED

The way the thorium reactor works is by sitting in a molten salt.  There is really no concern for melting down, since the core is essentially molten during operation.  In the event of a runaway, the contents of the reactor core, there is a melt-away safety which dumps the contents of the core into a dump tank and shuts down the reactor.

There is an excellent TED talk on the subject for more information.  In it Kirk Sorenson discusses how it can power us until the next energy source comes along.  Looks like this one will give us enough time to get fusion working.