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As with nearly all of our problems, California's water shortage is really an energy shortage. If we had cheap, abundant energy, desalinization isn't expensive
by liber8 12y ago
As with nearly all of our problems, California's water shortage is really an energy shortage. If we had cheap, abundant energy, desalinization isn't expensive anymore.
Figure out fusion and our water problems are solved.
Of course, in the meantime you think we'd at least consider pricing water as a resource and let supply and demand control the price. Instead, we implement this ludicrous system of encouraging neighbors to tattle on each other.
- TheOtherHobbes 12y agoCalfornia's energy shortage is a classic market failure. If markets were capable of intelligent long-term strategy, California wouldn't have an energy shortage in the first place. Fusion isn't required to solve a problem that could have been solved by much simpler means.
- shiny 12y agoFusion is cool, but fission is easy and if used on Thorium in LFTRs[1], would provide us with virtually unlimited, passively safe energy that leaves extremely little waste. Unfortunately it falls under the 'nuclear' umbrella and thus carries with it all of the baggage associated with that. 5 minute elevator pitch for the LFTR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK367T7h6ZY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK367T7h6ZY Failing that, I don't understand why we can't just connect a pipe (like we do with oil) from one of our water rich states to CA. But for whatever reason the state doesn't seem to be even considering any engineering solutions to the problem. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_fluoride_thorium_reactor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_fluoride_thorium_reactor
- cratermoon 12y agoYou know that California already drains water from the entire Colorado river basin, the Owen Valley, and numerous other sources. No way a state is going to just let California's appetite for clean water drain yet more rivers.
- shiny 12y agoAlaska might be up for it.