Energy Independence - A Nation Running on Empty

Abstract

This is part four of an ongoing white paper study funded by The Censors Foundation dedicated to promoting strategies in support of the National interest. The fundamental mission is to identify a Global Energy Strategy for the Industrialized Nations leading to energy independence. It should be abundantly clear the Nation must phase out and ultimately terminate reliance on petroleum supplied from OPEC sources, to reduce the political and military price for continuing dependence on imported oil especially from the Persian Gulf. A study of energy sources since the beginning of the industrial revolution in 1800 shows industrial nations shifted to a new energy source about every 50 years: from renewable hay and wood to coal, oil and gas, and nuclear fission. The lesson relearned from this study is, a 50-year transition to the next generation energy source, has been historically a characteristic interval for emergence of a new energy technology. Nuclear fusion will complete this 50-year cycle about 2025. With a shift to Nuclear fusion will come unlimited electrical energy, followed by unlimited hydrogen fuel. A hydrogen energy economy leads directly to dramatic solutions to political, military, and environmental concerns and will radically reduce potential for future 21 st Century conflicts. This think tank study concludes: the technical foundation for the shift to a hydrogen economy is already underway, and is currently proceeding in two major phases. The first phase is to produce hydrogen by striping carbon from petroleum and sequestering carbon as carbon dioxide. The second phase is maturation of Nuclear-fusion and reduction to practice. These tasks may be achieved with technology available today and do not depend upon unknown future science.