Energy and Construction - Clima2007

Dana Said:

Nuclear power provides cheap and clean energy.Did benefits of nuclear technology far outweigh disadvantage?

We Answered:

I believe that a well-operated and maintained nuclear energy program can mitigate the risks associated with nuclear power and provide significant benefits.

Nuclear power produces no carbon emissions. The fuel source is readily available in a number of regions making wars and other political strife for fuel less likely.

The biggest issue today is waste disposal and storage. This problem is exacerbated by the one-pass fuel cycle used by the US. If we utilized a multi-pass fuel cycle, waste, and the danger level of that waste, would be drastically reduced. We also need to consider standardization of nuclear plant design (a task underway with the DOE) to reduce the cost of bringing a new power plant into service.

Kathy Said:

When will the Obama administration finally listen to the environmentalists and stop investing in clean energy?

We Answered:

Different environmentalists have different views, but most of the top scientists, including 3 Nobel prize winners, encourage investment in clean energy, so much so that they requested $30 billion dollars be invested in it.

Megan Said:

why is green energy or clean technology anti business and anti american?

We Answered:

The opposite is true - NOT investing in green energy will destroy America.
Fossil based energy is finite - there is less and less oil and natural gas available, and getting it out of the ground is getting more and more difficult. Therefore fossil based fuel and energy is getting more and more expensive.
Green energy on the other hand is infinite - there will always be more sun, more wind and more tides. So green energy will get cheaper and cheaper. Investing in these technologies now will give huge dividends later, when everyone switches to the cheaper alternative.

Whats more, the emerging powers of India and China, with their billions of people who all want fridge-freezers and TVs, will need huge amounts of energy to supply them with. This can not be accommodated by fossil fuels.

Now, do you want to hedge your future on a dying system, or on a growing one?
(plus, you are buying most of your oil from the gulf states. Do you really want to give more and more money to the people who hate you most?)

The world leaders in green energy technology are not American. They are European (Danish and German) and Chinese. They already have the advantage, and the market. They will be the next super powers.

Leonard Said:

Is nuclear energy resource is a clean,cold and sustainable energy technology to fueling the future?

We Answered:

Nuclear energy is not "cold", I am not sure what you meant by that. The whole principle of how muclear energy is used to generate electrcity relies on the fact that it gives off a lot of heat.

It is also not too clean either. The depleted nuclear waste posses a problem of where to dispose of it. It will stay radio active for hundreds of thousands of years, so whereever you put it it needs to be out of the way and secure. Right now, the government is planning to store the stock piles of nuclear waste deep underground under Yucca Mountain (in Nevada I think), but there is a lot of debate over this.

As for sustainable, perhaps not in the long run. There is only so much fissionable material on Earth, it will run out eventually just like fossil fuels. A more long term nuclear energy sourse would rely on fusion, not fission, but this has yet to be practical.

Julie Said:

Clean-energy technology?? Does US stack up well with the rest of the world? Please tell me if you feel that?

We Answered:

To answer your question, it's all about politics. America is so overwhelmed with politic and money and oil, shes to slow to progress.The party that want to invest more into clean energy is Democrats, but they slowly makes progress because Conservatives want to stick with oil. Why? Because so many Conservatives make so much money from oil industries. Obama is trying to decrease our dependence on oil, but since we been so dependent on oil for over 100 years now, it's kind of hard to stop. Not saying that any party is wrong, just answering the question. The top five countries that are actually investing on this issue are:
1. China
2. England
3. India
4. Russia
5.Japan
Unfortunately, the United States of America isn't even in the top ten. But hopefully by the year 2012, we will start to invest in more clean energy technology and export more around the world.

Glenda Said:

When will our government admit it possesses "zero point energy" technology, which is clean, free, energy?

We Answered:

If you think about the properties of electromagnetism and electricity itself, and you study up on Teslas ideas, it seems as if there is a whole new area of science waiting to be seen by the mainstream. It is not complicated at all and should be looked into.