Beginning February 7th, we watched Scott Tinker's documentary "Switch." To briefly summarize this documentary, Dr. Tinker, the director of UT's Bureau of Economic Geology, guides his audience through the current state of energy use in the US and world wide. Then, he almost takes a tour around the world as he visits the most progressive energy facilities from Norway to France, and Texas to Canada. I thought this documentary was very well organized. Dr. Tinker discusses our energy use, demand, and challenges while providing current examples of how the US and the world can make a transition to more renewable and sustainable energy sources. In general, the US is beginning an energy transition from coal and oil to natural gas, nuclear, oil sands, geothermal, solar, wind, and biofuel.
One of the most compelling examples of how a shift in energy use can be made is in nuclear power. There are profound differences in how the US and France approach nuclear power and nuclear waste generation. The reason for this is the economics of nuclear supply. When Dr. Tinker visited a nuclear facility in France, he found that they recycle 96% of their nuclear fuel source leaving only 4% of the original nuclear waste. By recycling their nuclear fuel source, they reduce the volume of waste and they create a highly efficient reserve of energy supply. I hope that the US can use France's nuclear energy system as an example to follow since the storage of nuclear waste is costly and a national security risk. Currently the US does not have an incentive to efficiently use and recycle nuclear waste since our domestic supply of uranium is not limited. This serves as an example of how our energy policy is not progressive, but reactionary. It may take a substantial economic push to begin to recycle nuclear waste.
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