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show promise but need development. These are Enhanced Geothermal Systems
(EGS) and Solar-Assisted Geothermal Energy (SAGE). EGS seeks to drill parallel
wells into the hot rocks located at great depths everywhere on Earth, and then create
flowpaths between them using fracking to allow circulating fluids to bring up heat
from below. A pilot project in Utah is in the early stages. SAGE places wells into
shallower aquifers and uses solar heat to increase the temperature of the subsurface,
extracting it as needed. Both of these have the enormous advantage of working
nearly anywhere on the planet without the requirement for hot springs, geysers,
volcanic vents, etc. Tests of the technologies are underway but improvement and
commercialization is needed as quickly as possible. The application of government
and national lab expertise on drilling, geosciences, subsurface engineering and
other related fields could help either of these replace fossil fuel heat sources in
power plants fairly soon.
Fossil Fuel Vehicles Should Be Replaced Electric vehicles are well developed if
expensive – these are seeing continual improvements with the promise of a battery
that will last a million miles. However, an electric vehicle has little to no environmental benefit if it is charged up using coal-fired electricity, which is why the
changes to power plants must happen in tandem. Other options for non-GHG emitting vehicles include hydrogen powered cars, either by direct combustion of hydrogen or through the use of hydrogen fuel cells to generate electricity. Most commercial
hydrogen is currently derived from natural gas (known as “blue hydrogen”), but
non-GHG hydrogen can be produced through an electrolytic process using solar or
wind electricity (called “green hydrogen”), or through a thermolysis process using
waste heat from nuclear reactors. These technologies are currently cumbersome,
expensive, and inefficient, and significant development will be needed for widespread commercialization. Policy incentives and government research support can
help move them forward.
We Must De-incentivize the Use of Fossil Fuel The simplest and most straightforward way to do this from a policy perspective is to impose a carbon tax on GHG
emissions. A carbon tax must be steep enough that any industry considering burning
coal will find it more cost effective to capture the CO 2 emissions and sequester them
from the atmosphere rather than pay the tax, or switch to an alternative energy
source like geothermal or nuclear that produces zero emissions and is therefore not
taxed. Non-combustion uses of petroleum, such as plastics manufacture, would not
be subjected to the tax. The tax should be scaled to the emissions of GHG per Btu
of energy, thereby making the worst offender (coal) the most expensive, and the
least offender (natural gas) cheaper. However, since methane is also a GHG, leaks
in the natural gas production, transmission, and distribution system should also be
taxed, providing companies with an incentive to fix these. GHG-emitting vehicles
including automobiles, ships and jet aircraft should also be subject to a carbon tax.
This will provide incentives for alternative fuels, biofuels, or electric vehicles and
encourage conservation. In addition, all government tax breaks and incentives for
the production of petroleum, natural gas, and coal should be rescinded. In the U.S. these
12 Moving into the Energy Future
show promise but need development. These are Enhanced Geothermal Systems
(EGS) and Solar-Assisted Geothermal Energy (SAGE). EGS seeks to drill parallel
wells into the hot rocks located at great depths everywhere on Earth, and then create
flowpaths between them using fracking to allow circulating fluids to bring up heat
from below. A pilot project in Utah is in the early stages. SAGE places wells into
shallower aquifers and uses solar heat to increase the temperature of the subsurface,
extracting it as needed. Both of these have the enormous advantage of working
nearly anywhere on the planet without the requirement for hot springs, geysers,
volcanic vents, etc. Tests of the technologies are underway but improvement and
commercialization is needed as quickly as possible. The application of government
and national lab expertise on drilling, geosciences, subsurface engineering and
other related fields could help either of these replace fossil fuel heat sources in
power plants fairly soon.
Fossil Fuel Vehicles Should Be Replaced Electric vehicles are well developed if
expensive – these are seeing continual improvements with the promise of a battery
that will last a million miles. However, an electric vehicle has little to no environmental benefit if it is charged up using coal-fired electricity, which is why the
changes to power plants must happen in tandem. Other options for non-GHG emitting vehicles include hydrogen powered cars, either by direct combustion of hydrogen or through the use of hydrogen fuel cells to generate electricity. Most commercial
hydrogen is currently derived from natural gas (known as “blue hydrogen”), but
non-GHG hydrogen can be produced through an electrolytic process using solar or
wind electricity (called “green hydrogen”), or through a thermolysis process using
waste heat from nuclear reactors. These technologies are currently cumbersome,
expensive, and inefficient, and significant development will be needed for widespread commercialization. Policy incentives and government research support can
help move them forward.
We Must De-incentivize the Use of Fossil Fuel The simplest and most straightforward way to do this from a policy perspective is to impose a carbon tax on GHG
emissions. A carbon tax must be steep enough that any industry considering burning
coal will find it more cost effective to capture the CO 2 emissions and sequester them
from the atmosphere rather than pay the tax, or switch to an alternative energy
source like geothermal or nuclear that produces zero emissions and is therefore not
taxed. Non-combustion uses of petroleum, such as plastics manufacture, would not
be subjected to the tax. The tax should be scaled to the emissions of GHG per Btu
of energy, thereby making the worst offender (coal) the most expensive, and the
least offender (natural gas) cheaper. However, since methane is also a GHG, leaks
in the natural gas production, transmission, and distribution system should also be
taxed, providing companies with an incentive to fix these. GHG-emitting vehicles
including automobiles, ships and jet aircraft should also be subject to a carbon tax.
This will provide incentives for alternative fuels, biofuels, or electric vehicles and
encourage conservation. In addition, all government tax breaks and incentives for
the production of petroleum, natural gas, and coal should be rescinded. In the U.S. these
12 Moving into the Energy Future