NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Never did one of these before. Mainly it'll be full of rants and imaginary goings-on, but feel free to respond to anything you darn well please.

IC:They crowded into the streets by the hundreds of thousands. All over the island continent of New Gaia people embraced, celebrated, and held impromptu parades and rallies. It was a truly momentous day, for after years of revolution, treaties, broken treaties, civil war, and still more revolution, colonial powers were overthrown, forced to negotiate, and, finally, independence. The headlines all over the nation read, in huge bold letters:

FREEDOM! and LIBERTY!

It was the birthday of a new nation and, simultaneous to the granting of independence to the various autonomous states of New Gaia, they signed a Declaration of Principles and their Articles of Confederation. A new political body, the Central Council, was created to represent the new nation and insure the autonomous states governed themselves in accordance to the Declaration.

The head of the new body, The Voice of the Council, the greatest among equals, appeared on every television screen, spoke from every radio, and addressed the people of the land:

"Brothers and Sisters, today we mark a new era in our continued march to fulfill our collective dreams of building the grandest, most justice, most virtuous society history has ever known! From the silver shores of Endless Seas to the craggy ridges of New Sparta, we will build a just society, a great society, and one which can be held as an exemplar of virtue, solidarity, and justice!" Cheering in the streets echoed throughout the land. "But we must not remain content with our new found freedom. We must not grow lazy and intransigent, for our work only begins here, and as we knit our various societies together, we must not forget our common values and dreams, but always remember that our freedom is paid with vigilance, and our liberty must always be founded in the democratic participation of all, in every aspect of the workings of our society. And it is only through the endless toil of all towards that most noble goal of a just and good society that we will find peace and prosperity. There will be disagreements among us, but it is our differences that give us inspiration, and solidarity that gives us strength. We must not forget that democratic virtue demands the participation of all for the good of all. Our road will not be one of ease, and our goal is distant, but on this day, with songs in our hearts and freedom in our souls, we take our first steps over the Threshold of Paradise!"

TOO BIG FOR BRITCHES
Independent Media Syndicates
Anaris Free State

As the nation descends from the heights of joy and solidarity felt during the recent independence celebrations, the real difficulties of managing a new nation begin to set in. No longer having to pay tithe to the colonials that once governed these lands, every free state in the Confederacy has experienced a surge of economic activity. Though normally good news, this rapid development has led to huge demographic shifts as well as a very real problem: how to fuel the economic boom.

Mineral rich, but lacking in developed fuel resources, the Confederacy has never had a real problem like this;
"We're essentially a third world country with a first world education system.," Chief Economic Advisor to the Central Council, Preeya Ganathan, "To our credit, we have an excellent education system and a limitless supply of highly skilled labor. However, our rapid industrialization will soon outstrip our ability to fuel ourselves."

Currently, 60 percent of all our electricity comes from antiquated coal powered plants. Some relief is provided b hydroelectric dams, geothermal, and a single plant with three natural uranium reactors. The lack of viable electricity has led to rolling brownouts in some states.

With the growth of vehicles on the road, and all of the Confederacy's gasoline and diesel fuel being produced by a steam reformation process of coal, the cost of coal has skyrocketed and so has electricy costs. As those in the mining industry point out, it isn't the supply of coal, but that demand is outstripping the rate at which it can be extracted and it will take five years for new mines to open and tap the difficult to access reserves that still remain.

As Economist Ganathan points out, it is unwise to put more strain on a scarce resource. "We really only should consider coal as a material feedstock for plastic, not as a fuel. Otherwise we risk depleting it too quickly and having to import all our energy." She is quick to point out that already several new geothermal facilities are scheduled to open up and that exploration for gas off Northern Shores is likely to prove fruitful. "But we still need so much energy."

RENEWABLES RELIEF, NUCLEAR FUTURE

Already, many homeowners and collectives are turning to solar hot water heating and ground source heat pumps for their heating and cooling needs, and all free states are inacting very stringent efficiency regulations in their building codes. And almost every new roof is getting a photovoltaic array. As general contractor Keith Razman points out "It makes my work more expensive, but, you know, it's laying the groundwork for a more efficient economy. I'd rather pay now [in construction costs] than pay twice as much extra [in energy] later." Manufacturing and recycling codes are also being inacted to conserve as much energy as possible.

Wind energy is also set to expand in some areas, but many free states lack the capacity for wind. Hydroelectricity is cheap and endless, but there have been many protests over the Thermopylae Gorge dam project in New Sparta free state, still scheduled to be completed early next year. However, the dam, combined with new advances in geothermal technology, may help provide some immediate relief by next summer while helping close some of the antique coal boilers currently in use.

Perhaps the future for electricity in the Confederacy lies in the River Winds natural uranium reactor. "Nuclear is the answer," explains engineer Xavier Tesch. "Almost every free state has abundant uranium resources, which we can then harness using this natural uranium reactor design. We've got a lot of work to do to make the construction process less expensive, but I forsee a many more of these facilities being built in the next 15 years to help cope with population growth and industrialization."

Unlike other conventional reactors, these natural uranium reactors do not require an enrichment process, so we can burn mixed uranium fuel in them. In the future, reactors that can consume the waste product, called fast breeder reactors, may be built to close the nuclear fuel cycle and eliminate the problems associated with disposal. Breeder reactors will also allow another common mineral element, thorium, to be consumed as fuel.

HYDROGEN FUEL

But a project in Kanath, Anaris Free State, promises to open up fuel supplies for transportation in the Confederacy. Called the Experimental Oceanic Thermal Energy Reactor, the project utilizes the thermal differences between the upper and lower layers of the sea to heat water, produce electricity, and, cooupled with solar energy capture, even electrolyze hot water to produce an endless supply of hydrogen. "We just figured, you know, why not?", Technician Maurice Day, "Solar energy requires some kind of medium. Well, the ocean is a medium. It absorbs a heck of a lot of thermal energy. So we've got all this ocean soaking up all this energy, we can do a lot with that." Like generate electricy for electrolysis to make hydrogen fuel, and even distill sea water to make fresh water. Indeed, the area around Kanath, once a desert, now teems with farms and pastures irrigated by oceanwater distilled using the power of the sun.

Economist Ganathan weighs in on the project; "The Kanath project is great. We've already got automotive manufacturers developing modified diesel engines to burn hydrogen, so we may be looking at a hydrogen economy much sooner than we think. So I'm positive about our energy future."

END