[ExI] Could Thorium solve our energy problem?

[Max More]

Thanks for clarifying, Brent.

>The OECD reserve number, according to their notes, is an estimate of 
>the amount of thorium in ores that are potentially accessible via mining.

With the caveat that I haven't looked up how exactly the OECD figures 
(educated guesses, really) what is "potentially accessible", I would 
note that similar numbers for oil reserves have consistently 
underestimated what could be extracted. Those making the calculations 
have failed to fully allow for new technologies and techniques.

Perhaps the OECD has done a better job, but it's more likely that 
they are underestimating the potential to a much *larger* degree, 
since (compared to oil for many decades) there has been little demand 
for thorium. If we were to start using much more thorium, I would bet 
(literally) that those reserve numbers would expand greatly.

Besides, thorium can be well worth using for decades, especially if 
you don't require that it replace practically *all* other energy 
sources. It doesn't have to be a perfect and permanent solution to be 
worth adopting.

Max



-------------------------------------
Max More, Ph.D.
Strategic Philosopher
The Proactionary Project
Extropy Institute Founder
www.maxmore.com
max at maxmore.com
-------------------------------------