Talk:Future Work for NASA

This is not an official NASA document

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This is not an official NASA document

That said, the author would much appreciate any feedback you might have.

--Jriley 17:51, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

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Test in Progress

We are currently testing one of the major concepts in this article, Hubbert's Peak. We are running the test world wide but the results are particular acute in the USA. And, there is no reset; we will have to live with the result..

If the scenario presented here is correct, then the world oil market recently toggled over from a buyer's market to a seller's market. The supply is limited. Demand is high. The price will therefor rise until it hurts so bad that demand drops to match supply.

Efforts to stop this rise will be useless. The politicos will try all sorts of short-term measures, such as tax holidays, investigative hearings, and perhaps even opening drilling farther on the north slope. None of these will have more than a momentary effect.

The only action that could possibly work in the short-term is a massive conservation program which would be very hard on many parts of the American economy.

In the long-term we must rebuild the entire American energy infrastructure. This we can do, but it will take time and a lot of effort.

So watch the price of gasoline. If nothing can stop its rise until the American public is hurting real bad, then this paper becomes a lot more believable.

--Jriley 13:05, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

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rebuilding the American energy infrastructure

A quick summary of what I mean by "rebuild the entire American energy infrastructure" seems to be in order. A good plan must not only meet Americans energy needs for both stationary and moving power, but reduce the carbon in the atmosphere while maintaining food supplies.

Conservation

A massive and immediate energy conservation plan is a must. These measures must then be made pertinent.

Solar Energy

We must build numerous solar power stations throughout the American Southwest. Most of these will be of the concentrator type and include a few hours of storage. They must be spread out so that one storm can effect no more than a few. They will become important job creators in as many Congressional districts as possible.

Wind Energy: We must build a thousands of wind generators down the middle of the country and along both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. These will save many family farms and fishing villages. Again the effort will create jobs in as many Congressional districts as possible.

Storage

We must build a significant number of energy storage facilities. Most of these will be deep caverns and old gas fields where we can store air at high pressure. When the energy is needed the compressed air will be burned with natural gas with 60% of the energy coming from the compressed air.

Energy Backbone

Our national power grid is out of date and not up to the new challenges. It must be heavily rebuilt.

Transportation Fuel

We must build a network of plants and pipe lines that first take purpose grown crops (switchgrass), agricultural waste (corn stalks), and garbage (meat wastes) into a biocrude. This feedstock will be pumped to regional refineries and converted into three fuels: bio gasoline (similar to octane), bio diesel, and bio jet fuel. This process must reduce CO2 dumped into the atmosphere and not reduce either food production or replanting of forests.

Remote Sensing from Space

Powering a civilization off its own environment requires much more information than powering it from coal. We need both advanced weather satellites for day-to-day predictions and very advanced science satellites for long term prediction. These must be supported by latest computers and computer models.

(And when you are finished doing that; let in the dog and put out the cat.)

The cost of this effort will be comparable to that of the War in Iraq. The work has already started, but must be greatly speeded up.

--Jriley 14:02, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

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