Tom Blees is the author of Prescription for the Planet - The Painless Remedy for Our Energy & Environmental Crises. Tom is also the president of the Science Council for Global Initiatives. Many of the goals of SCGI, and the methods to achieve them, are elucidated in the pages of Blees's book. He is a member of the selection committee for the Global Energy Prize, considered Russia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize for energy research. His work has generated considerable interest among scientists and political figures around the world. Tom has been a consultant and advisor on energy technologies on the local, state, national, and international levels.
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by Tom Blees
Introduction
“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men often go awry
Robert Burns’ oft-quoted admonition is applicable in a number of ways to the book you’re about to read. On the one hand, it applies to policy and industrial decisions that could have been made during the last half-century to avoid—or at least minimize—some of the most critical problems now faced by humanity. On a more personal level, it describes my semi-abandonment of a plan to publish this book only after certain critical nuclear technologies will be successfully demonstrated at scale. Until then, some skeptics (and cynics) will undoubtedly scoff at my vision of the near future as a pipe dream. I wanted to avoid the glib dismissal of advanced nuclear power systems as mere “paper reactors.” Once they’re up and running the point will be moot. But there is so much happening in the global energy picture these days that I don’t want to sit idly on the sidelines. I’d like to be able to share what I’ve learned from immersing myself in energy issues for over two decades, so I’ve decided to release the chapters as I write them. Hopefully, by the time the book is finished sometime in 2023, the projects will be farther along and at least show the strong likelihood of ultimate success in the very near future. Unfortunately it takes time for truly disruptive technologies to come to full fruition.
Global dilemmas, and their potential solutions, will continue to be impacted by policies relating to energy production and deployment. It would be helpful if media coverage of these issues were accurate and insightful so that people who lack a background in such fields, or who simply don’t have time to keep up, could be informed with actual data and hard facts. Unfortunately, that is not the case, and it’s not surprising. Many of these issues are complex, and few reporters who write occasional articles on energy topics have the background necessary to sort the wheat from the chaff.
As an author and hopeless optimist, I’m naturally inclined to launch into a description of a vision of the future that is bright with promise. But since I’m writing about energy, it’s impossible to ignore the global energy situation, especially at this time. As I write this in the fall of 2022, Europe is entering a scary winter due to an energy crisis that has many people questioning whether they’ll be able to even heat their homes this winter. People are quick to blame Vladimir Putin and the Russian war with Ukraine, which certainly exacerbated an already shaky energy situation. But the roots of the current energy dilemma go much further back than last February’s invasion. As an old Grain Belt Beer slogan used to say, it’s “been a long time a-brewin’.”
The often impassioned debates about renewables vs. nuclear can hardly be ignored in a book about the future of nuclear power, much as I’d prefer to just write about the latter. It can be instructive to take a look at how we got to this point though, something that we’ll examine at the beginning of the book. Following that orientation, we can consider some fairly straightforward reasoning about where the future of energy is headed without belaboring the many arguments that could themselves fill a book (and which have, indeed, filled several). The thrust of this tome is to illustrate the many promising aspects of the future of energy, and how the coming transformations promise a better world for both humanity and the environment.
I much prefer to avoid a polemic, but there can be no question that there are drastically different views on energy policies that can hopefully be discussed with unvarnished evidence and sound arguments. These issues are at the very base of many of our current dilemmas, including inflation, climate change, and technology choices that will either be supported or squelched by government policies.
I’ll do my best to present and discuss these issues as accurately and ideology-free as possible. Of course, I’m aware of the dangers of motivated reasoning, and just as aware that presenting facts is no guarantee that they’ll be accepted as true. As I launch this project, I can’t help but remember this gem:
I still think my favorite thing that’s ever happened to me on the internet is the time a guy said, “People change their minds when you show them facts.” And I said, “Actually, studies show that’s not true,” and linked TWO sources, and he said, “Yeah, well I still think it works.”
Chapter 1
Paving With Good Intentions
Make me one with everything.
The Dalai Lama
The unity of mankind in responding to global challenges, which one might envision when misinterpreting the holy man’s order to the hot dog vendor, is but a tantalizing aspiration. When it comes to issues like climate change and global poverty, what we see instead is increasing balkanization among radically different belief systems. But it wasn’t always this way. The post-war era of the Fifties was a time when there was a consensus reality shared by the majority of the American populace. The Sixties saw this start to fragment as the Baby Boomers (guilty as charged…TB, DOB 1951) came of age, leading to what was widely lamented as the “generation gap.”
Click here to download Chapter 1 as a PDF courtesy of the author and SCGI.
While we banned plastic straws, Russia drilled and doubled nuclear energy production.
...it was the West’s focus on healing the planet with “soft energy” renewables, and moving away from natural gas and nuclear, that allowed Putin to gain a stranglehold over Europe’s energy supply.
Famed climate change scientist, Dr. James Hansen shares his viewpoint on nuclear energy
A stunning interview of Dr. James Hansen by David Letterman in late 2009. Dr. Hansen is one of the foremost American climate scientists and head of NASA's Goddard Institute for 40 years.
by James Conca (at Forbes)
Hurricane Florence, a potentially devastating Category 2 hurricane is on track to make landfall in the Carolinas sometime within 24 hours after this morning, Thursday, September 13. With winds up to 130 miles per hour, Florence could be the most powerful storm to hit so far north in the United States - ever.
Unfortunately, Tropical Storm Isaac, and Hurricane Helene are fast on her heels (see figure). Isaac is expected to upgrade to a hurricane before landfall.
Along with most everyone else, nuclear power plants in North and South Carolina, as well as Virginia, have been preparing for the natural onslaught.
Hurricane Florence will most likely hit two nuclear power plants operated by Duke Energy - their 1,870 megawatt (MW) Brunswick and 932MW Harris nuclear plants in North Carolina. If Florence turns north, it could also hit Dominion Energy's 1,676MW Surry plant in Virginia. Brunswick is expected to get a direct hit.
The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is watching carefully. But no one is really worried that much will happen, contrary to lots of antinuclear fearmongering. Power outages will occur as lines and transformers are destroyed and non-nuclear buildings get damaged, and it might takes a few days to a few weeks to bring power back up, something that includes all energy sources.
YouTube interview with Tom Blees on the Integral Fast Reactor. Learn about this new technology that is new and different from the nuclear energy we are used to.
by Tom Blees
"This is the most important book that has ever been written on sustainable development... You MUST read it! It is not A revolution, it is THE revolution, THE way to go."
- Bruno Comby Ph.D, Founder and President of Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy
Click here to download the entire book as a PDF courtesy of the author and SCGI.
(Please be patient. This is a large file and can take 20+ seconds to download.)
Learn more about Prescription for the Planet
Purchase Prescription for the Planet at Amazon.Com
Worldwide environmental and social problems require a bold vision for the future that includes feasible planet-wide solutions with all the details. Prescription for the Planet explains how a trio of little-known yet profoundly revolutionary technologies, coupled with their judicious use in an atmosphere of global cooperation, can be the springboard that carries humanity to an era beyond scarcity. And with competition for previously scarce resources no longer an issue, the main incentives for warfare will be eliminated. Explaining not only the means to solve our most pressing problems but how those solutions can painlessly lead to improving the standard of living of everyone on the planet, the lucid and provocatively written Prescription for the Planet is a "must read".
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Pandora's Promise is a 2013 documentary film about the nuclear power debate, directed by Robert Stone. Its central argument is that nuclear power, which still faces historical opposition from environmentalists, is a relatively safe and clean energy source which can help mitigate the serious problem of anthropogenic global warming.
View Pandoras's Promise on Youtube.
View Pandora's Promise at Netflix.
Are nuclear power plants bad when they are running normally?
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The Science Council for Global Initiatives, Inc. (SCGI) is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to informing the public and policymakers about technologies and strategies that can lead to an energy-rich world. SCGI provides a forum for many of the world's prominent scientists, authors and activists to collaborate and share their knowledge regarding solutions to the world's energy, resource and environmental problems.
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The Science Council for Global Initiatives is a growing international group of scientists, politicians, activists and other concerned men and women working together to articulate cohesive, efficient policies for solving the most serious problems ever faced by mankind. Resource wars, globe-girdling pollution, the threat of serious climate disruption; these challenges demand immediate international cooperation and inspiration on an unprecedented level. The world-class members of SCGI are creating the foundations for political and social structures that will enable us to meet the formidable challenges of the 21st century.
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The Science Council for Global Initiatives (SCGI) is an international NGO (501(c)(3)) dedicated to uplifting the standards of living of people of all nations while repairing our damaged environment.
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Tom Blees, the president of SCGI, does an outstanding job of connecting with audiences, and delivers compelling and thought-provoking presentations. He combines his expertise, his understanding of how people learn about the world's energy problems, and his visionary solutions that can lead to a world of peace and prosperity.
Tom is a motivational speaker for the future of our planet. His optimistic yet realistic vision of our future stands in sharp contrast to the doomsayers who all too often maintain that our survival necessitates depriving ourselves or others of the standard of living we enjoy today. Whether you are having a business conference, association meeting, sustainable energy conference, media interview or other event, you want to present something your attendees will hear, absorb and then take away as motivational and actionable knowledge, which will ultimately determine the success of your event. Tom will work with you to provide a memorable experience tailored to your audience.
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We are the SCGI, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to informing the public and policymakers about technologies and strategies that can lead to an energy-rich world. SCGI provides a forum for many of the world's prominent scientists, authors and activists to collaborate and share their knowledge regarding solutions to the world's energy, resource and environmental problems.
We can accomplish these goals now:
- Eliminate air pollution
- Recycle spent nuclear fuel
- Bring the fossil fuel era to an end
- Prevent resource wars, including looming water wars
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- Power our vehicles with zero-emission energy systems
- Provide abundant energy and fresh water to every nation
- Reduce human-caused greenhouse gas emissions to a trickle
- Diminish the world’s nuclear arsenals, turn old nuclear weapons into energy
Technologies that can lead us to a post-scarcity era:
- Integral Fast Reactors (using "nuclear waste" for fuel)
- Zero-emission vehicle technologies
- Plasma recyclers
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