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"The Cure to All that Ails Us"

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Jay Zawatsky proposes an energy plan that will solve a great many problems. At it's center is nuclear energy:

How is nuclear power the cure to all that ails us? Here’s how: We import ten million barrels of oil every day. That costs us one billion dollars every day, adding $365 billion each year to our trade deficit. Nearly all of that imported petroleum goes into transportation fuels. Replacing all of the imported-oil horsepower with an equivalent amount of nuclear-generated power eliminates nearly 30 percent of the trade deficit. But how do you run cars on nuclear power? The answer can be found in two words: “hydrogen” and “hybrids.”

Amusingly, the focus on nuclear energy proves a stalking horse for hydrogen production. This seems an odd approach and the author is identified only as chief executive officer of havePower, LLC. And what is that? According to its website:

havePower is the nation’s leading hydrogen fuel cell systems design, integration and installation company for critical telecommunications infrastructure. Existing installations include primary and back-up systems in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York.

So, although Zawatsky knows his business in the same manner that a man who knows tin relates everything around him to tin, his article has an infectious utopian brio:

So that solves the trade deficit, the energy deficit and the environmental issue [Zawatsky solves these via nuclear energy on the back end and hybrid cars on the road]. But what about the budget deficit? Easy: We need to increase the capacity of the nuclear plants and secure them against terrorist attack. We need to build the electrolyzers and compressors to be placed at every service station in America, to convert water into compressed hydrogen to fuel cars and trucks. We need to increase the capacity of the power-transmission lines to deliver the larger supply of electricity to the service stations. We need to build the plug-in hybrids and the appliances for rapid recharging.

Nuclear plants are terrorist-proof, so we're half-way there. If Zawatsky wants to run for president of Wings Over the World (from Things to Come), he has my vote.

(But havePower's website? Whoof! Needs a refresh.)

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Anonymous said…
Add a third word to your "The answer can be found in two words: “hydrogen” and “hybrids.”"

Please add "Electric"! See www.vectrix.com

-Andy
May 11, 2008 at 1:12 AM
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