X-Message-Number: 20257
Date: Sun, 06 Oct 2002 15:40:41 -0700
From: James Swayze <>
Subject: Energy and leadership to reach the future
References: <>

> Message #20253
> Date: Sat,  5 Oct 2002 14:54:35 -0700
> Subject: Re: CryoNet #20208 Nuclear energy
> From:  (Tim Freeman)

<snip>

> I'm more afraid of global warming than nuclear power, so I hope
> economics forces the shift soon.

I'm with you Tim. I've watched as the weather here in the Northwest has gotten
hotter and hotter over the years. When I first moved here we had a colossal
record breaking ice storm. That was over two decades ago. Nothing like it has
occurred since. In the immediate years to follow there were some snowy winters

with snow lasting longer than a week and piling up a few inches but none of 
those
for the past 12 years that are of any note.

If one looks around a bit with an open mind one sees the effects of warming all
around us. As the environment gets hotter more moisture is pulled into the air.

This adds density to the air which adds to the force of winds making more storms
and those storms stronger. There are more and more frequent hurricane class

storms now then in the past and tornados are seemingly on the rise and 
increasing

in intensity. Likewise where moisture is low drought is the problem. El Nino' 
and
La Nina' once only heard of infrequently now seem to be a yearly phenomenon.

I agree nuclear is a better choice over coal. If one includes recharging
electrical vehicles then it's a better choice over fossil fuel powered vehicles
as well. I would welcome hydrogen technology but that's going to take a
government not in the pocket of Big Oil. Infrastructure for hydrogen will,
unfortunately, require a governmental boost. It's not going to get one with the

strange bed fellows currently existing between Big Oil and 1600 Pennsylvania 
Ave.

One also wonders how different the middle east situation would be if we and the
rest of the world could live without their oil. They'd sure have less money to

fund terrorism with and buy weapons of any level of destruction with. Let's take
the wind from their sails by weaning ourselves from their oil.

Whether oil is a fossil related resource or really a reoccurring geological

phenomenon it is depleted too rapidly for either to keep up with production. 
Even
if methane hydrates, a renewable resource so long as life keeps decomposing on
the sea floor, could be safely extracted and thereby not dramatically increase
global warming it would still amount to air pollution through its use. With the
Asian Brown Cloud looming ominously it's painfully clear burning combustibles,
other than hydrogen, cannot continue as our primary energy sources.


I wonder how nanotechnology plays into solutions for clean, not just cleaner but
absolutely clean, use of these resources? How could nano devices process and
convert the combustibles from crude form directly to energy without allowing

release of or even production of, without parallel conversion from deleterious 
to

harmless, harmful byproducts? Could nano management of these compounds remove 
the
specter of harmful byproducts? Could the same occur for nuclear? Could nanobots
manipulate the guts of radioactive atoms so to convert them to other non
radioactives? Or is the level of the whole atom the lowest nano could operate
with? Is femto then the next step to that smaller scale and lower level?

Either way we can't wait for these magical technologies to fix the problem.
Future friendly rather than apocalypse expecting national and global leadership
is needed for our futuristic dreams to come to fruition.

James
--
Cryonics Institute of Michigan Member!
The Immortalist Society Member!
The Society for Venturism Member!


MY WEBSITE: http://www.geocities.com/~davidpascal/swayze/ While there follow the
links to photos of me and some of my artwork and a radio interview on Dr.  J's
ChangeSurfer Radio program with me and the father of cryonics Prof.  Robert
Ettinger, author of "The Prospect of Immortality".

A RELIGION I actually recommend: 
http://uk.geocities.com/venturist2001/index.html

A FAVORITE quote: Last lines of the first Star Trek the Next Generation movie.
Capt.  Picard: "What we leave behind is not as important as how we've lived,
after all Number One, we're only mortal."
Will Ryker: "Speak for yourself captain, I intend to live forever!"

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