Nuclear Energy Can Save US: This Century, Malthus Could Be Right. (Part One).

Nuclear Energy Can Save US--America�s 100 nukes equal four million barrels of oil per day.

Billions of lives and civilization itself may be at risk from the Global Warming & End of Cheap Oil, Crisis. Rising sea levels and rising oil prices could be the end of civilization as we know it. The problem is so huge that the most powerful answer, many nuclear plants, must be deployed. Currently, America‘s 100 nukes deliver the energy of four million barrels of oil per day. Wind and solar cannot do the job, and may delay the real answer too long. Still, all kinds of clean energy, plus conservation, plus reducing deforestation, will be needed to help the poor half of the world, and for civilization to survive through this century.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

This Century, Malthus Could Be Right. (Part One).

While researching a recent post, an extremely scary article was discovered. This piece, entitled "Eating Fossil Fuel" by D. A. Pfeiffer (2004), proposes that the so called, "Green Revolution", which increased world grain production 250% between1950 and 1984, was primarily a process of converting fossil fuel to extra food. Fossil fuel agriculture uses an average of 50 times as much energy as traditional methods. The inceased production is degrading cropland, requiring more and more energy just to maintain the yield we have now; running harder and harder to stay in place, just at the century when oil will disappear; possibly natural gas as well. The "Greenhouse" monster, coal, will still be in use; almost as big a tragedy as the loss of oil.

I hope that Mr. Pfeiffer's projections are too pessimistic, but his facts ring true. He projects that the U.S. will stop being a food exporter by 2025 due to increased population. This concurs with my Post, Ethanol From Corn Will Not Do; running cars on food is INSANITY. However, enough clean, non-CO2 energy, can get humanity through. If Mr. Pfiffer's data is near right, and it looks too solid to be far off, America needs thousands of nuclear plants, millions of wind turbines, conservation, efficiency of energy usage, reforestation, biofuel, and a new source of fuel such as fusion energy, to avoid devastation on a massive scale.

The next several posts will explore specific problems that he foresees for America (which in turn will impact the world); we are eroding topsoil and wasting arable land, shrinking the land required for producing biomass energy, using more and more water resources, etc. I hope that many people will read Mr. Pfeiffers report at,

www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/100303_eating_oil.html