Develop Alternative Energy Sources

For the purposes of this plan, alternative energy sources are sources that we currently do not use, such as ocean power, or sources that are not scientifically ready, such as fusion, or sources that have potential but still have some issues to resolve before they can come into widespread use, such as hydrogen.  This plan does not anticipate much more than research and development for alternative energy sources.  It does not require that we are able to commercialize any of them.  If we are able to exploit one or more alternate sources, allowing us to use even less of some other fuel, that would be icing on the cake because it is not required to meet our goal of complete energy independence.

No one can predict what the dominant energy source will be in 20 years, much less 100 or 1,000 years.  A major breakthrough could happen tomorrow that would signal a totally different direction to travel than any we have even conceived of yet.  We could discover some exotic new particle or property of the universe that can be harnessed to produce limitless amounts of energy or we may figure out a way to harness known properties like gravity and the vacuum of space.  Until that happens, and it will eventually happen, probably several times over the course of the next 100 years, we should explore every possible avenue of alternative sources of energy.

Our objectives are to research and develop all forms of alternative energy sources and to identify all viable possibilities that can sustainably, efficiently, and cost effectively provide for some or all of our energy needs.  The following actions will help to accomplish this:

Fusion
Fusion is a technology that always still seems to be at least 20 years away from commercial use.  It holds tremendous promise as a clean, safe, and nearly limitless source of energy, though we have yet to make those final breakthroughs that are necessary for it to become viable.  In any event, we should continue to pursue all types of fusion research and at least maintain current funding levels, if not increase them somewhat. Significant progress seems to have been made with inertial confinement research recently.  More resources should be provided to that technology in order to find out if even more advances can be made.

Hydrogen
Hydrogen is another alternative energy source that has tremendous potential but still must get over a few hurdles before it can be a major contributor to our energy needs, especially in the transportation sector.  Syngas mandates will provide a ready supply of hydrogen to allow its use to grow as an energy source.  Artificial photosynthesis has also shown commercial potential for producing hydrogen.  If some of the storage and transport problems can be taken care of, hydrogen will become a much more significant part of our energy future.  Continued funding of the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative will eventually solve those and other problems allowing the marketplace to make a decision regarding our commitment to its use as a transportation fuel.

Carbon dioxide as a fuel
Advances in various fields of science now provide three different mechanisms to capture CO2 and use it to produce fuels and other valuable commodities.  Electro-chemical separation advances used in the "Green Freedom" process developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have been demonstrated to extract CO2 from ambient air, catalyze it, and convert it to syngas.  Craig Venter is developing genetically modified bacteria that consume CO2 and sugar to produce the liquid hydrocarbon octane, which can be used directly or refined into a number of fuels and products.  The Univeristy of California (UCSD) has developed a prototype device that uses solar energy and a catalyst to break down CO2 into carbon monoxide and oxygen, which can be used directly in various industries or refined into syngas.

These are major breakthroughs that turn the entire debate over fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions on its head!  Transforming CO2 from a potential liability that could require massive spending to control into a valuable commodity that can be harvested from the air has such significant consequences that it must be pursued with all available resources.  CO2 sequestration is now ancient technology and as such all funding directly or indirectly related to sequestration efforts should be redirected to converting CO2 into useful products or using it for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR).  Any type of support that is required should be provided to: rapidly develop prototypes of industrial scale facilities, improve the efficiency of each of the processes, and to research and develop any other CO2 conversion techniques that may be available.

Ocean power
Ocean power is really a form of naturally renewable energy.  It is included here instead of under renewables because we have no commercial facilities taking advantage of this resource at the present time.  Electrical power generation capabilities from the ocean include tidal and wave, ocean thermal energy conversion, ocean winds and currents, and salinity or pressure gradients.  While they are limited in where they can be used most effectively, they are free and naturally renewable sources that remain untapped in the U.S.

Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) exploits the differences in temperature of surface and deep water.  The ocean is a huge heat reservoir and tapping the energy potential that exists between the warmer surface waters and cold deep waters to produce energy is a technology that must be examined closely.  A program to research suitable locations and build a demonstration project should be undertaken.  Ocean thermal also offers co-generation possibilities for cooling air, chilled soil agriculture, desalinization, and trace element mining.

Differences in salinity between two water sources can be exploited via osmotic pressure to extract energy that can spin a turbine and produce electricity.  Attempts from several years ago were not commercially viable due to limitations in membrane technology.  New membrane technology and methods of extracting useful energy without membranes now exist.  Funding further research and development are justified to see if the previous hurdles can now be overcome.

Wave, tidal, and current power extract some of the enormous energy present in the natural movements of the ocean.  There are no commercial facilities in the U.S. using any of these potential energy sources.  While the locations where they can be used are somewhat limited here, detailed research and demonstration projects should be funded.

Unexplored and theoretical
Any technologies that may have a potential for producing clean and inexpensive energy should be explored with research grants, pilot projects, or whatever is appropriate to support basic research, testing, and prototyping.  A micro-grant system should be developed to assist small time inventors and visionaries with researching and testing their ideas.  Who knows what the guy next door tinkering in his garage may come up with if he had a few hundred dollars, look at Sun and Apple.  There is a lot of potential for abuse in such a system so safeguards would have to be put in place, but no large beauracracy is required.  A simple web form with a couple of DOE employees working part time to review and decide whether to fund a particular project should be sufficient.