Alternative Energy Progress: News From The North
Just effing WONDERFUL!
At any time before, a massive war over the Artic would have been dismissed or regaled as the stuff of science fiction or an author’s fantasy.
Not anymore.
We cannot afford Russian ambitions to take control of the top of the world. We cannot.
If we must shed blood and cry havoc to do so- well, that is a price we must pay.
Oh yes, and in other news, the Russians just snubbed us in our “negotiations” over the Missle Shield for Eastern Europe.
Mark my words- it may be time to start cracking open and looking at our histories of the Crimean War, the Russo-Japanese War, and Finland’s victories 1918-1945.
Because if blow comes to blow, we cannot let Putin or his ilk live.
Lest we all be consumed.
Posted by Turtler
03/03/2009 at 08:21 PM
I like it. Those could be used at any city on any waterway.
Gee, wouldn’t it have been nice to have a dozen or so of those over the past decade when the various hurricanes hit Florida, Texas and Louisiana with devastating results????
Personally, I wouldn’t want them under FEMA’s control (too many screw-ups there). Just keep ‘em under the control and staffing of the military and then let FEMA and the state National Guards make the hook-ups to the power grids.
The Navy should get these funded as a national resource immediately.
Posted by TimO
03/03/2009 at 09:09 PM
TimO, seems to me we used an aircraft carrier to power a big part of the worst hit islands in Indonesia after the 2004 tsunami. And used their desalination ability to provide fresh water for many many thousands of survivors.
How about making a few to American spec? Instead of a barge that can generate 70-150Mw, build ‘em bigger full size ships ... 500Mw; 1Gw. 2Gw. Instead of 2 reactors use 32. A quarter million gallons of fresh water per day. Heck, why even make them ships? Make them submarines. But either way, the portable aspect is an awesome idea.
Or build them as permanent, mostly submerged, islands for our own use. Do you think Los Angeles, forever on the edge of drought and brushfires, could use another 2 million gallons of fresh water per day? 4 million gallons? Along with 5Gw of electricity?
I like it. “Nuke the nation.” But in a good way ... endless clean water, unlimited nearly free electricity. Then we can have plug in cars and trucks that don’t pollute at all (as long as we have some kind of battery exchange program). Rehydrate the Great Plains. Make the desert bloom. et cetera. Kewl.
Turtler - I don’t know if Russia has NEW dominance ambitions up there. But they do have thousands of miles of their own northern border they are trying to develop. Right now those efforts are mainly on the east and west ends of that border, but those efforts include fishing and mining and lumber and farming and oil and gas drilling ... not to overlook those claims they made on the Arctic seafloor ASAP when the ice melted a couple years back ... so you may be onto something. Certainly it would be worth keeping a better eye on things for now.
I like the sunken island idea. I had thought about the use of ships and subs for the Great Lakes but islands are better. Put some wind turbines on top and who could object? One of the recent scares about nukes is protection against airplane strikes. The submarine option would certainly solve that problem.
A couple by Detroit and a few near Chicago; what’s not to like? Some might say the problem with nuclear waste --- but that is just a way of saying “No matter what you propose I will reject it.” Building nuclear, or even coal fired powerplants would be the kind of change I could believe in. Therefore it will not happen.
