What can we do right now?
Posted by Andrew Careaga
What can we do right now to address the nation’s energy crisis? Richard J. Stegemeier, PetE’50, has a few ideas, which he shared with the campus during a guest lecture last fall.
- Restart nuclear plant construction and increase electrification with nuclear power as quickly as possible
- Begin reprocessing nuclear waste and develop technology to reuse the waste as energy
- Step up research and development on breeder reactors and nuclear fusion
- Allow exploration and drilling for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve (ANWAR)
- Work on developing “cleaner” approaches to coal usage, including gasification and carbon-captured sequestration
- Enter into long-term oil supply contracts with other nations
- Increase R&D funding for solar, wind, geothermal and biomass energy technology.
