Dear Senator last name here,
Or
Dear Representative last name here,
The United States spends more money protecting Middle East oil
and fighting terrorism than it would cost to develop new energy
technology that would obsolete oil as a source of energy. The connection
between terrorism and Middle East oil wealth can no longer be
ignored.
It is time for America to lead the development of new energy technology
that would end the need for oil as a source of energy. Freeing
America,
and all other industrial countries, from the need to use fossil
oil as a source of energy will cut-off the flow of oil money to
the Middle East and put an end to the financial support of militant
Islam.
With the help of new technology, America’s energy needs
can be obtained from sources other than fossil oil.
American technology has put a man on the moon, mapped the human
genome, and successfully landed robotic exploration vehicles on
Mars. It seems reasonable to believe that American scientists and
engineers could also develop environmentally safe alternative
energy
technology to free America from dependence on fossil oil.
The United States has over 270 billion tons of proven coal reserves,
having the energy equivalent of four times the oil reserves of
Saudi
Arabia and equal to all of the proven oil reserves in the world.
If the United States could use its coal reserves without destroying
the environment, foreign oil would not be needed.
Nuclear energy can produce the hydrogen and
provide the intense heat needed to make synthetic oil from
coal.
Nuclear power is a proven emission-free energy source that can
replace gas and coal fired base-load electric power generation
plants,
and enable the USA to develop a replacement for our oil based transportation
fuel. The replacement of coal power plants with nuclear power
plants
would reduce America’s atmospheric CO2 emissions by 30%.
The USA does not need to wait for a hydrogen economy; nuclear
power can begin to give America energy independence now, by providing
the process heat and hydrogen needed for the manufacture of synthetic
oil from coal. If nuclear heat and nuclear hydrogen are used
in the manufacture of synthetic oil
from coal, then the yield of oil from coal would be much higher
than if coal was used to provide the needed hydrogen and process
heat.
Using synthetic gasoline and diesel made from coal, to provide
transportation fuel, would not reduce CO2 produced by cars and
trucks
on the nation's highways, nor would it increase atmospheric CO2
because it would merely replace existing consumption of gasoline
and diesel. However, it is possible to have zero emission
gasoline/diesel cars and trucks. If technology is used to remove
the CO2 tailpipe emissions directly from the atmosphere
after the CO2 is released from the tailpipe.
In other words, allow cars
and
trucks to release CO2 and then clean the atmosphere using technology
designed to remove CO2 from the air. The collected CO2 can either
be recycled or sequestered.
If coal power plants were replaced by nuclear power plants, for
base-load electricity, and coal is used to make synthetic gasoline
and diesel,
then Americans who are dependent on the coal mining industry for
their incomes would support nuclear energy.
Modern Coal-to-oil technology can free America from dependence
on Middle East oil. One billion tons of coal per year, at 3 barrels
of oil per ton, would replace 65% of USA imported oil, and provide
jobs for people who depend on the coal industry. At 12 million
imported
barrels per day, 65% is 7,800,000 barrels per day. Just over 20%
of oil imported into the USA today comes from Persian Gulf Nations,
which are also members of OPEC. Less than 45% of oil imported into
the USA today comes from OPEC.
Drilling for new petroleum might help in the short term, but in
the long term natural petroleum is not sustainable — we cannot
depend upon crude oil for our energy future. However,
the development of
technology
for the production
of synthetic petroleum will create a sustainable energy future.
Synthetic hydrocarbon fuels such as synthetic diesel and synthetic
gasoline can be made from many different sources of raw material,
including renewable biomass. America has an abundance of natural
raw materials that can be used to make synthetic petroleum.
A large-scale public investment in Gas-To-Liquids (GTL) technology
would bring the cost of the technology down so that the manufacture
of synthetic petroleum would be competitive with fossil oil production.
The current interest in Gas-To-Liquids technology is focused on
monetizing otherwise worthless remote natural gas deposits. However,
variations on the same technology can be used to make synthetic
petroleum from synthesis gas derived from coal, oil sands, oil
shale, biomass, or even recycled CO2 in combination with hydrogen
extracted
from water.
Synthetic gasoline and synthetic diesel made from synthetic petroleum
can power existing cars and trucks without needing to modify the
engines or national fuel distribution infrastructure.
Details and links to more information about new energy technologies
can be found on the American Energy Independence web site.
www.AmericanEnergyIndependence.com
Congress needs to fund advanced research and development of new
energy technology. The United States needs to move forward with
the development of sustainable sources of energy, and do so with
the urgency of a national security mandate.
Respectfully,
your name
your mailing address
your email address
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