The Hydrogen Economy, or How We learned We Got Stuck with Nuclear Energy.

Being suspicious of government, and having government reinforce this feeling in me on a daily basis through their mismanagement of the US and its role in world leadership, I can't help but think that if those in power have their preference as to how the future of energy will look, they will want it to be a system controlled by them, not one that puts power and choice into the hands of customers and citizens.

If you think this is unjustified cynicism, let me know why. Meantime, my thought is that the "Hydrogen Economy" will end up powered by Nuclear Energy in the future because of a lack of resources being put into research on truly renewable energy today.

Today, US leaders, who hail from the Big Oil industry, have emphasized new drilling, wars, and bigger cars, but have ridiculed any concern for conservation of any kind. They have cut the budget for research on renewable energies. They have nothing to gain from putting the power to make power in the hands of everyday people, or into a decentralized system. They would lose money and power if such a system came about.

Here's a link to a Google Search on the Hydrogen Economy. The first link is to the "How Stuff Works" website which does a great job of putting things in plain English. There are other links that go into greater detail. There is also a link to "E Magazine" which has an article that says hydrogen powered cars could be used to put power back onto the main grid when they are parked, rather than just sitting idle. This would make every car owner a power generator as well as a consumer. It would decentralize power generation, which would make the system less vulnerable to any terrorism as well.

This makes a lot of sense, but when's the last time our leaders did something sensible that looked at the long term benefit of everyone? Let me know an example if you can think of one.

I mistrust the ruling elite in the US enough to predict this: They will push for a hydrogen economy to the exclusion of all other concepts for power production. They will try to financially starve research on any alternatives. They will oppose any power system that decentralizes production or control. They will support a system based on nuclear power because it will keep all of us dependent on them for our power. It may be a cleaner system on the surface, but the first true nuclear accident will erase any gains we would see. It's just not worth it.

I have had a good track record of predicting the behavior of our leaders by understanding this about them: they have great power, they are not afraid to use it, and they won't give it up easily. They take after all the previous governments in history that way.

We must work toward greater research in renewable energies so that viable alternatives to nuclear production of hydrogen exist. We must work toward a power system that is both clean and decentralized. It must have a broad spectrum of sources so that it is a reliable system.

If we don't understand the forces at work which will result in the next Age of Power, we are likely to be stuck with a system that is no more liberating or clean than the current one.

We can do better.

U.