Our Future Energy Sources

Although renewable sources should also be used, Nuclear energy should be top priority. It's widely used in Europe, why not here? We haven't built a nuclear plant in over thirty years. Yes, environmental concerns are important, but so is energy independence. If nuclear energy provided all our electricity needs, we could use coal to make oil. It's been done in South Africa since the seventies. And using sugarcane to make Ethanol, like they do in Brazil, would be a great boost for Florida's sugar industry. In a couple of years, the Chevrolet Volt electric car from General Motors, will go on sale. Although it uses a small gasoline engine, it's used only to recharge the electric motor, which powers the driving wheels. Nissan will also debut it's electric car about the same time, which is being made in cooperation with French affiliate Renault. They can go for about 125 miles on a charge.

Israel is already building a network of electric car recharging stations. They will be like an enclosed car wash. You drive in and immediately the spent batteries are replaced or recharged. They have ordered about 500 of the Renault-Nissan electric cars. Many other countries will be watching the Israel's example closely. The biodiesel-electric hybrid bus is already in use by the Miami Transit Authority, and by the city of Bradenton, on Florida's gulf coast.

Honda has a natural gas powered car, it's being test-marketed in a few cities. There is plenty of natural gas in the western United States. BMW is testing a gasoline-hydrogen hybrid car. About ten of them are being tested in the United States. A button on the steering wheel switches from gasoline to hydrogen. There is also a hydrogen powered Volkswagen touring the USA, it's visited about eighteen states so far. Hydrogen would require all new infrastructure to make it viable. This alone, plus the public's perception of hydrogen as being dangerous, means it's well behind the electric car.

Whenever I see an oil tanker in Tampa Bay, I imagine a big oil spill creating a great disaster for our area.