In the mean time, it remains to be seen if the Dems can get their act together on renewable resources in the next two years. Will they merely push clean coal (to the delight of WV, PA, KY, OH, IL, AL, MO, and MT) and ethanol (to the delight of NE, SD, MN, IA), or will they also push on wind (to the delight of MA, NH, ME, VT, ND, SD, MN, MT, ID, WY, CO, UT, CA, NM) and solar (to the delight of CA, NV, AZ, UT, NM, CO, TX, NE, and OK)?

Will the Dems work to improve building code standards to reduce consumption? How about improving CAFE standards? Will the Dems increase the cost of operating a polluting power plant, thereby forcing a faster transition to renewables?

We've heard for years that the GOP stands for Grand Oil Party, and that the Dems had an energy plan that will take Saudi Arabia out of the equation and control air pollution. Lets see if they can put their money where their mouths have been. I sure hope they do.

Sounds easy enough. We're in 2006 and at 6%. This means just increase it by 1% per year. It won't be easy but it won't be hard either.

Sid,
One problem, the rate of energy consumption is growing. By 2030, electric energy usage could grow ~50%. US population is likely to do the same by ~2050. From that viewpoint, the challenge to increase renewables share to 25% by 2025 is more daunting, but if achievable, even more impressive.
___On a side note, efficiency gains by existing gas/coal fired powerplants (40-60%) could make fossil energy usage decrease (w/renewables pitching in), or at least hold steady. Since cars/trucks and planes stay on the road/in the air for 15-25 yrs, perhaps a more concerted reengining (and profitable) of road/air vehicles (like Class 8 truck tractor engines, and MD-80).

Around here alot of people are picking up used suvs. They are cheap and much more fuel eff then the old trucks theyused to use. Its far far better to pack up 1 big suv and hitch the boat to it then it is to pack up the fam in 2 cars and a truck and drive off. And the suv being as heavy as it is handles towing alot better.. no more stroeis about the boat trying to outrace the truck;/

Also of the people who used to own new suvs are now buying smaller cars or smaller suvs.

But an important bit is the suvs are the heavy trucks are still around and will be for decades to come. After they get used by my freinds for the next decade or two its likely they will go down south and elsewhere and wind up rebuilt in some 2nd or 3rd world area.. very likely without any polution controls and with alot of dirty fuel and dirtier mods to the trucks.

I know the old ford econoline van we used to have that got maybe 6 mpg most times is now in south america. I know my freinds oldold fuel guzzling behemoth wagon is down there too.

Abd people quate numbers that are esitamtes based on lies about lies about hopes and propganda dreams.

Never once questioning if for instance china even knows how much polution it puts out or for that matter india or africa or any of those places. Hell do we even know for sure even to within 50% margin what exactly europe or america is REALY belting out?

Abd what do we have? We have contries desp[eratly trying to tech up and indust up before oio runs out and the hammer falls. We have wartorn regions fighthing over billions in oil that may or may not be there. And we now have millions of acers of land falling way for fuel plantations as far as the eye can see.

America WAS only less then 25% of the problem 8 years ago. Its even less so now and sure wont be the issue once it finaly falls into the post industrial phase its flying into at full speed.

Does it MATTER what americans drive today if by 2050 most americans will be too lazy and adicted to online games and tv to go anywhere?

Does it matter how much we travel by air nw ifby 2050 most americans are too fat to fly?

We dont need to conserve we dont need to work on better conventional cars we dont need to do any of that. We just need to unleash the infinete power of lazyness and fatness and let amercans turn into complete shut in lardbutts.

You dont need to convince people big isnt better you just need to make a small car that a big fat ass can fit in and that has a cup holder large enoygh for an ultra hyper mega big gulp supreme. And sell the damn thing cheap so the fat assed game addict can spend more money on games.

You dont need to force people to buy better bulbs.. you just need to make the damn bulb easyer for a fat lardass to plug in/ Have you tried to put in a 4 foot tube lately? They bloody never wana fit right!

Harness lazyness to save the earth. You wana save every and fuel? Find a way to cheaply and fuel effciently dilver fast food from a nearby outlet to the home so the fat asses dont have to get in the car in the first place!

Its most likely that all freaking bleep will break loose and that americans will survive simple because they are too fat to starv nefore some pacthed together systems make the new world order work.

The averagre american now has enough fat to provide them calories for a year and getting calories is the hardest part f getting food in a famine.

As for china.. I think they are more then smart enough to grind the work they need to make china strong enough and tech enough to handle 2100 before oil runs out.

India.. not a snowballs chance in hell.

Europe.. too few will manage it and they will pull europe down in a massive messy fight.

Africa..not a snowballs chance in hell.

Middle east.. The glow from all the bombs will light up the moon.

The us.. skinny)ish) for the first time ever millions of americans will sit eating completely 100% atrifcial food and comment online.. gee these soilent red pizza rolls tastse alot better if you dip them in soilent orange souce... Abyone teied the new soilent mauve from toco bell?

And if it's not PO, the coming of Jesus (spanish), or the nanobot scourge, it'll be proton decay... :p

The problem here is that by 2025, 25% of the energy will just be that amount that has been added since today.
There will be NO decrease in any CO2 emissions. But don't worry, CO2 accounts for less than 1% of the greenhouse gases. 98% of the greenhouse gases is water vapor, and that ain't going nowhere. Global warming is one big scam by the renewables industry to force this country to
pay thru the nose for its energy. It's funny to watch the sheep running thru their hoops. Hasn't been anything this amusing since these same climatologist "scientists" with their phoney baloney models were predicting a new ice age back during the 1980's. When will the fools learn that climatology is one step removed from astrology. Hey, if 80% of this country's brains thinks we've been visited by aliens, they're believe ANYTHING. ANYTHING. And some people dispute studies that show Americans to be the least intelligent on the planet.
Now they've elected a political party that pushes
conspiracies as a means of understanding patently transparent operations, such as the price of crude.
46% believe the President can set the worldwide price of crude!!!!! Now why do those other 8 billion people let him do that? HOW does he do that? They also, incredibly, believe that he is impotent in all other
areas!!! Schizophrenia lives.

If one third of the Americans are so fat, big and overfed, could BFP2G (Big, Fat People 2 Grid), with 100 million people driven generators, supply the 25% extra energy required and the essential physical exercise at the same time?

This could be a win win win solution:

1) free clean electrical power
2) less obese people and health care
3) energy savings and GHG reduction.

It could be better than watching TV and eating triple oversized burgers & chips.

Smaller PHEVs and BEVs could become a practical solution for many more.

PS: As obesity occurs in the same families, one people driven generator could be shared by 2 to 4 members, thus tripling the efficiency.

Yucca Mountain always seemed like refining crude to get paraffin and sticking the other products in storage, so we can complain about how much waste crude oil processing generates... But I suppose if we reprocessed we wouldn't have as much to complain about.

The analogy is inept, since nuclear reprocessing is grossly uneconomical. The plutonium you get out not only costs more than the uranium it displaces, so does the cost of fabricating that plutonium into fuel elements. So, the value of these 'other products' is actually negative, and treating it as waste is perfectly valid.

Harvey, there are generators that people can attach to their stationary bikes at home that will provide the electricity to TVs and other small appliances. I'm surprised that no gyms have begun attaching generators to their treadmills and other cardio equipment. The stored energy could provide all the light and most other electricity uses in the gym. It would cost alot at first, but I'd venture a guess that a busy gym could easily make back that money and save $$$ in the long term.

Renewables do have good promise to hit 25%, but it's convincing people that it's necessary that's the problem. Emmissions and save the earth talk aside, diversifying energy production to include renewables is nothing but good once it becomes economically feasible. Getting off dependence of OPEC oil for example. You want to talk about something with potential to wreck the economy- you talk about petroleum. The next few years aren't going to be pretty as the prices just keep going up and up. Renewables, like algae produced biodiesel are a way to protect the US and world economy from total destabilization as a result of petroleum scarcity in OPEC countries.

Wintermane: nice to see someone who's more of a complainer about fat people than I am. 98% of people who are overweight it's their own fault. Yes, our lifestyles are the cause. Drive thru fast food, eating crap instead of fruits and veggies, driving 1/4 mile instead of walking. My kids will hate me when I deny them a gaming system, but they'll thank me years later. But that's another topic. The revitalization of downtown areas that is sweeping across much of the US could be a great thing to help hinder this sprawled out laziness, therefore trimming down on people driving everywhere. You just don't see alot of fat people in places like NYC, where walking everywhere is common. The attempts by many cities to create higher density could help trim some waistlines.

Besides, is Uranium really so expensive on the market that reprocessing is cost effective in Europe?

Absolutely not. That was my point. Reprocessing doesn't begin to pay for itself until the price of uranium rises to where from $300/lb to over $700/lb (by some estimates). It's currently around $50/lb. on the spot market, and it's estimated that U could be extracted from the oceans for around $150/lb.

I suppose it is relatively uneconomical, but so is sequestering carbon, or emissions systems.

And if the alternative to reprocessing were to dump the waste into the environment, that analogy would be apt. But the alternative is to sequester the spent fuel, unreprocessed, in casks or underground. The cask option doesn't even preclude reprocessing in the future; it allows you to delay until it might actually make sense to do it, and save money in the meantime.

Heh I AM a fat game player I dont hate fat people its a natural side effectof the times. When peoplesense doom and gloom they naturaly pork up in prep for a famine and that doom and gloom has been building for decades now.

Its not something epople understand today but being able to be fat has saved alot more lives then it has taken.