Energy Reform Smart Grid Technology The term Smart Grid has taken on multiple definitions which do not always give a clear picture of what its advantages are over the existing technology. I define a Smart Grid as an electric grid interfaced with digital technology which allows for: -Enhanced efficiency -Self healing capabilities -Priority optimization -Consumer feedback interface (optional) -Multiple power plant collaboration -Redundant coverage -Decentralized & intermittent power generation integration -Enhanced sell-back capabilities -Use of zero resistance superconductors (still a work in progress) Features I do not support are those which allow the power company to shutoff residential appliances and home specific real time power monitoring. The potential for abuse is far too great if proper restraints are not implemented with such a technology. Underground Power lines If you are like me, you have probably wondered why we have not moved power lines underground like the Europeans have. Not only are above power lines an eyesore, but they are very susceptible to both man-made and natural threats. The average cost of placing power lines underground in the United States is one-million dollars per mile. The traditional approach makes it cost prohibitive, but I suggest a modern approach which integrates power and data lines into the road system. Modern road concepts have already demonstrated the feasibility of this approach along with other advanced features. To learn more about such high-tech roads visit the transportation section of the www.JohnMohyi.com. Lightning Power Plant As long as I can remember I have always wanted to create a device which could harvest electricity from a bolt of lightning. Not necessarily for the obvious cost savings advantages, but for the simple reason that it would be fun to do. So although I do not consider this approach a serious solution to the energy problem it is nevertheless an interesting concept worthy of entertaining. The fundamental problem which needs to be overcome in order for such a contraption to work is storing the lightning energy fast enough for later use. There are two approaches which I have come up with which I consider theoretically plausible 1) using a super conductor to guide the lightning bolt to a super capacitor for storage and 2) as the diagram demonstrates below, to capture the lightning as chemical energy via electrolysis. The first approach is not readily available because supercapacitors are still in their infancy, but the second approach could be tested with the materials we have today. The two technological advancements which make this approach plausible are the development of a cobalt phosphate based catalyst developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the invention of carbon nanotubes. The carbon nanotubes are important because they can provide a massive increase in the surface area of the anode and cathode for the reaction. This contraption can also be used for the desalinization of ocean water. Plasma Arc Gasification This piece of technology is among my favorite solutions to both our energy and garbage problems. Plasma Arc Gasification is essentially a process which uses garbage to create energy. By creating facilities which process our waste for energy, such as the one from Startech above, we can creating a two birds with one stone scenario by both eliminating Michigan landfills and using the generated energy to power our homes. Additional benefits include an estimated 20 percent increase in recyclable materials and the ability to leverage these facilities as an income generator by taking waste from other states (like we do with the garbage we get from Canada). These facilities leave a negative carbon footprint and do not release any harmful gases into the atmosphere. Space based wireless power Every second the amount of solar energy that strikes the surface of the earth is equivalent to more energy than man has created since the dawn of the electrical age. Space-based solar power (SBSP) works off the principle that without atmospheric interference and night and day constraints, SBSP can harness as much as seven times the amount of energy then reaches the earth's surface. The energy produced can then be converted into wireless power or an infrared laser and beamed down to earth. Both can be beamed to a central collector and distributed via existing power lines or the microwave wireless power approach can provide municipal power to anywhere in the world. Although this would not be considered a Michigan problem, theoretically the same system can be used to neutralize hurricanes (or create them). As an added bonus the system potentially may also be leveraged to clear space debris. Nuclear Power Nuclear Power, often considered the power of the future, has in recent years gained significant attention with the debate over greenhouse gas emissions, dependence on foreign oil, and an imminent energy crisis. Although Nuclear Power has many advantages which includes a relativity cheap power source and no greenhouse gas emissions there are significant drawbacks which make nuclear power, in its current form, a bad investment. Opponents to Nuclear Power typically cite nuclear waste as the primary problem with this energy source, but this is not the case. The development of nuclear waste reprocessing techniques utilizing breeder reactor technology can recover up to 95% of uranium and plutonium from spent nuclear fuel and decrease the volume of nuclear waste by over 90%. Unfortunately this process is not allowed in the United States as a result of the US non-proliferation policy. Nevertheless even if efforts to change the policy are successful by the year 2014, as a result of China and Russia's expanding nuclear power programs, demand for Uranium will exceed the world supply. To put it in perspective, as of 2007, 35% of Uranium supply was made up from nuclear weapons stockpiles, but these are quickly drying up and the cost of Uranium reflects that trend. As far as nuclear power goes, the technology needs to mature to increase efficiency, uranium mines need to increase production, our aging power plants need to be replaced before they breakdown, and the nuclear waste problem needs to be solved before we seriously consider Uranium based nuclear power as an energy solution. I suggest more research funding for Thorium based power plants. In contrast to Uranium, Thorium is more abundant, efficient, produces significantly less waste, and is self-regulating when dissolved into hot liquid fluoride salts reducing the possibility of a meltdown to zero. Additionally, among a multitude of other advantages, the byproducts of thorium cannot be weaponized. In the meantime we can increase the efficiency of existing reactors by converting them into Seed-and-Blanket Reactors which is essentially using thorium uranium hybrid fuel rods instead of just uranium rods alone. The end result is decreased uranium expenses, increased energy output, and less nuclear waste. Inertial Confinement Fusion Power Currently an experimental design, Inertial Confinement Fusion Power aims to harness the power of a hydrogen bomb by using laser beams, as opposed to a fission bomb, to compress and heat fusion fuel making it possible to decrease the minimum size of a reaction. The reduction in the minimum size then makes it possible to harness energy produced from a successful ignition of the fusion fuel. To put it in perspective, the minimum size of a nuclear device is about a kiloton and the amount of fuel used in for Inertial Confinement Fusion Power is slightly smaller than the pupil of your eye. Starting sometime in 2010, the European Union is planning to build the world's first High Power Laser Energy Research Facility (HiPER). If successful, I would like Michigan to be the first to adopt this piece of technology and ideally secure federal funding to make it a reality. Below is a layout of the proposed facility courtesy of Mike Dunne of the CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK.