MIT and the Challenge of Energy

Tanachai Limpaitoon, a PhD candidate at MIT, is thinking out loud about America's energy challenges, and what part his university can play in helping to solve them:

Obviously, we all understand the risks that accompany too great a dependence on foreign energy, particularly from politically unstable parts of the world. We also need to secure extended energy delivery systems, which are vulnerable to disruption, whether from sabotage or natural disasters. We must remember that major wars have been fought over access to scarce resources, and our dependence on oil for transport means growing prospects for conflict over energy supply. And while there is a renewed interest in nuclear power as an alternative to carbon-based fuels, we must answer the questions about the consequent potential for the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Plenty of food for thought, though I hope Tanachai is taking a close look at GNEP as a long-term answer to his question.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Power, Electricity, Environment, Energy