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[Heron TSG]

Fusion is still way of though, most optimistic prediction is 2050.

Most optimistic prediction is 'by the end of this year' according to the National Ignition Facility in the US.

http://optics.org/news/3/1/37
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Ignition_Facility#National_Ignition_Campaign

[10ebbor10]

Fusion is still way of though, most optimistic prediction is 2050.

Most optimistic prediction is 'by the end of this year' according to the National Ignition Facility in the US.

http://optics.org/news/3/1/37
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Ignition_Facility#National_Ignition_Campaign

I was focusing on the ITER development and such*. Completely forgot about the other branch of nuclear physics.

Which makes for pretty awesome news actually. Though note that that is just getting more heat than you input. It's nowhere near commercial levels yet, though it's certainly interesting.

*Which should get fusion with a serious (I though 500 MW, though not sure) gain.

[Skyrunner]

If the Japan government lets itself be bullied into closing its existing reactors and not giving permits for new ones, I'd declare it made its most serious blunder yet.

I think I recall Japan has quite a high % of nuclear power-derived electricity.

The FISSION IS EVIL panicking is really stupic, logically. Always the incidents are from old reactors, or "normal accidents."I don't think any new reactors have had incidents. Also, it's a vicious cycle, because old reactor blows->panic->no new reactors->older reactor blows->repeat. :S

The NIMBY effect is infuriating, because of short-term, irrational fear and greed things get stalled and go critical. Korea is lacking in nuclear waste storage areas, but every single province is rejecting the government's plans for building a new one deep under the ground in a granite layer of some mountain. Also, new reactor land is hard to find because of the same reasons.

I also want to chip in that ethanol is overhyped, especially the corn kind.

[Heron TSG]

Aye, in most cases Ethanol actually takes more energy to produce than you get in fuel. (due to tractors harvesting the corn, the processes used to distill it, etc.)

[10ebbor10]

If the Japan government lets itself be bullied into closing its existing reactors and not giving permits for new ones, I'd declare it made its most serious blunder yet.

I think I recall Japan has quite a high % of nuclear power-derived electricity.

The FISSION IS EVIL panicking is really stupic, logically. Always the incidents are from old reactors, or "normal accidents."I don't think any new reactors have had incidents. Also, it's a vicious cycle, because old reactor blows->panic->no new reactors->older reactor blows->repeat. :S

The NIMBY effect is infuriating, because of short-term, irrational fear and greed things get stalled and go critical. Korea is lacking in nuclear waste storage areas, but every single province is rejecting the government's plans for building a new one deep under the ground in a granite layer of some mountain. Also, new reactor land is hard to find because of the same reasons.

I also want to chip in that ethanol is overhyped, especially the corn kind.

Japan used 30% nuclear power in 2010, and actually planned to increase it to 50% by 2030.  You get something similiar in several other nations though . Germany is closing it's plants and building coal power to make up for it. (10% of the total production). Belgium is going for a complete shutdown by 2030, which we're certainly not going to get, as nuclear provides 50-75% of the power used(Though only 40% of our max production capacity). The result is that old (30-40 years) powerplants are kept running while a minimum is invested in safety measures. Really, the current plan was to keep the oldest plant open till 2030 or something(At that point it would be fifty years old, with an designed lifespan of 30 years). However, it appears there were construction faults in the reactor chambers of 2 other reactors, so it might be we have to close those and open others. All reactors are second generation, might I add. With a total production of somewhere around 6000 MW, it shouldn't be to hard to replace them with new 3^the or fourth generation reactors.

Also, ethanol might cause food shortages. (Though algae based biofuel is still cool, especially since you can actually stack multiple stories of it on top of each other)

[mainiac]

Aye, in most cases Ethanol actually takes more energy to produce than you get in fuel. (due to tractors harvesting the corn, the processes used to distill it, etc.)

That was true like more then a decade ago when ethanol production was ramping up and the refining industry was really inefficient.  It's not true anymore.

[10ebbor10]

Aye, in most cases Ethanol actually takes more energy to produce than you get in fuel. (due to tractors harvesting the corn, the processes used to distill it, etc.)

That was true like more then a decade ago when ethanol production was ramping up and the refining industry was really inefficient.  It's not true anymore.

Really depends on the situation though, it's all rather unclear right now.

[Guardian G.I.]

then again, I do need to practice survival skills until this happens. it's either this, zombies, meteor or yellowstone.

There's also World War III.

[Ancre]

I'm still hoping for Yellowstone myself.

As for the cars subject, I'd just like to hop in and say that, when I was living in France, I have never needed a car. Paris have a large and ancient subway that works well despite some hiccups, and most cities have good bus transportation at the very least (tramways are all the rage these days and everybody tries to have one, too, I don't know why). Trains (and airplanes too, apparently, I have never looked into that, to be honest) between cities are accessible, comfortable, and fast. It works, but the cities are quite different from the american ones. It's a different way of living. But not a bad one.

[Tellemurius]

I'm still hoping for Yellowstone myself.

As for the cars subject, I'd just like to hop in and say that, when I was living in France, I have never needed a car. Paris have a large and ancient subway that works well despite some hiccups, and most cities have good bus transportation at the very least (tramways are all the rage these days and everybody tries to have one, too, I don't know why). Trains (and airplanes too, apparently, I have never looked into that, to be honest) between cities are accessible, comfortable, and fast. It works, but the cities are quite different from the american ones. It's a different way of living. But not a bad one.

maybe the factor of larger population comes to mind on that

[nenjin]

I'm still hoping for Yellowstone myself.

Last I heard the Yellowstone hot spot had moved out from directly underneath the park, and is now more or less sitting under more stable substrata.

So I think the YS Super Volcano is probably not gonna happen.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I'm still hoping for Yellowstone myself.

Last I heard the Yellowstone hot spot had moved out from directly underneath the park, and is now more or less sitting under more stable substrata.

So I think the YS Super Volcano is probably not gonna happen.

Our ashen demise is delayed for another 600,000 years, then.

Or perhaps until next week, who knows?

[Ancre]

I'm still hoping for Yellowstone myself.

As for the cars subject, I'd just like to hop in and say that, when I was living in France, I have never needed a car. Paris have a large and ancient subway that works well despite some hiccups, and most cities have good bus transportation at the very least (tramways are all the rage these days and everybody tries to have one, too, I don't know why). Trains (and airplanes too, apparently, I have never looked into that, to be honest) between cities are accessible, comfortable, and fast. It works, but the cities are quite different from the american ones. It's a different way of living. But not a bad one.

maybe the factor of larger population comes to mind on that

Larger population density, perhaps. Larger population certainly isn't true, the US have a bunch of huge cities with awful public transport (Atlanta comes to mind, as I've been there and seen it, and I'm sure it's not the only one), and lots of room to improve in that direction if the americans wanted to.

[Jervill]

Yes, that's the problem.  People will ride public transit in the United States if it is feasible, unfortunately public transportation has been underfunded for decades while the bulk of the money goes towards roads.  Now, I'm not saying that we have to have one or the other; rail, air, and car transport need to be part of a large system to function efficiently.

The problem is that in many locations, people have only one option to take for work or play.  With extra options, more people will use alternative methods.  Not all, but it makes it so people who dislike driving or cannot afford a vehicle can get to where they need to go.

[Criptfeind]

I'm still hoping for Yellowstone myself.

As for the cars subject, I'd just like to hop in and say that, when I was living in France, I have never needed a car. Paris have a large and ancient subway that works well despite some hiccups, and most cities have good bus transportation at the very least (tramways are all the rage these days and everybody tries to have one, too, I don't know why). Trains (and airplanes too, apparently, I have never looked into that, to be honest) between cities are accessible, comfortable, and fast. It works, but the cities are quite different from the american ones. It's a different way of living. But not a bad one.

maybe the factor of larger population comes to mind on that

Larger population density, perhaps. Larger population certainly isn't true, the US have a bunch of huge cities with awful public transport (Atlanta comes to mind, as I've been there and seen it, and I'm sure it's not the only one), and lots of room to improve in that direction if the americans wanted to.

It's pretty simple. American cities were built when the car was a thing. French cities were not.