Don't Be Caught Snoozin' -- Invest in Fusion!

Who needs a refinery? We're on the cusp of fusion power!

Don't trust me: trust a guy with actual money, Wal van Lierop, CEO of Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital. He says scientists are less than five years away from showing they can copy the Sun's energy-producing trick and do it affordably:

Chrysalix's optimism is pinned on an angel investment the company made in General Fusion, a Canadian company that says it has found a way to hurdle many of the technical problems surrounding fusion. The company's ultimate plan is to build small fusion reactors that can produce around 100 megawatts of power. The plants would cost around $50 million. That could allow the company to generate electricity at about 4 cents per kilowatt hour, making it competitive with conventional electricity [Michael Kanellos, "Nuclear Fusion Is Coming, Says Noted VC," C|Net News.com, 2008.02.07].

Fusion reactors -- dang, I wonder if Gary Hanson has checked the regs on that.

Now I'm still all about wind and solar. But every now and then, it will be dark and calm out. We do need something that we can run at the flip of a switch. Fusion would be a spectacular fuel source. Instead of running dozens of coal trains across the state each day to run coal-fired electricity plants, a Fed Ex guy could probably bring enough lithium in his truck to run a fusion plant for months.

van Lierop has opinions on some other energy issues:

• --Wind power is good, but he says those offshore wind turbines that the Kennedys don't like will face serious corrosion issues in the next few years.
• --Communities should look at solar microgrids: instead of big grid projects, build local solar plants that save on the cost of transporting the power. Who needs transmission lines?
• --And ethanol? "Corn ethanol is a scam," says van Lierop.

If South Dakota really wants to think ahead and help America with energy independence, maybe the state should think way ahead, to genuinely sustainable energy alternatives that can help us kick our addiction to oil of any sort, Arab, Canadian, or otherwise. Let's not wait for a crisis, or for the oil to run out. Let's kick that addiction now by making a concerted effort to develop new fusion technologies along with the workable wind and solar tech we have now.