Thorium vs Oil
Thorium vs. Oil
Using oil to fuel the world has started to become a huge issue to us and the environment. Some people believe that switching the resource that we depend on could cause mass disruption and many lost jobs. This may or not be true, but not changing from oil could cause even more devastation on our planet. The Liquid-Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) could be a great replacement because it doesn’t produce greenhouse gas, its less dangerous than oil, and very little of it is wasted.
Thorium, unlike oil, does not cause greenhouse gas emissions which would cut the world’s pollution vastly. It does not produce lethal toxins such as plutonium during usage. It is also is much more abundant than oil and we wouldn’t have to make dangerous mines to collect it. On top of that, it is completely used. LFTR’s use 98% of the fuel (thorium) they are given, this leaves only 2% that must be safely disposed of. All in all, thorium would be a much greener and a much more effective fuel.
Oil is abundant, easy to use, and creates jobs, but so is thorium. Oil also emits 20 pounds of carbon dioxide per gallon of gasoline, which is 20 pounds more than thorium emits. Today’s reactors use about 5% of the fuel given, leaving 95% to be disposed of which can be a problem. This much waste causes us to dispose of it in a way that causes a lot of harm to the ecosystems such as dumping in lakes and rivers. Oil is also non-renewable, meaning that once we use it all, we won’t have it for a long time. Running out of fuel today would cause chaos, and the U.S. alone uses over 20 million barrels of oil per day. That’s why we need to switch now. Even though oil won’t run out for a very long time, it’s better to switch early.
Thorium would be a clean and inexpensive replacement for oil. Oil is nonrenewable, dangerous to work with, and is destroying our planet. We need to focus on saving this planet one step at a time. The switch to thorium would definitively be a huge step, for the earth,
Using oil to fuel the world has started to become a huge issue to us and the environment. Some people believe that switching the resource that we depend on could cause mass disruption and many lost jobs. This may or not be true, but not changing from oil could cause even more devastation on our planet. The Liquid-Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) could be a great replacement because it doesn’t produce greenhouse gas, its less dangerous than oil, and very little of it is wasted.
Thorium, unlike oil, does not cause greenhouse gas emissions which would cut the world’s pollution vastly. It does not produce lethal toxins such as plutonium during usage. It is also is much more abundant than oil and we wouldn’t have to make dangerous mines to collect it. On top of that, it is completely used. LFTR’s use 98% of the fuel (thorium) they are given, this leaves only 2% that must be safely disposed of. All in all, thorium would be a much greener and a much more effective fuel.
Oil is abundant, easy to use, and creates jobs, but so is thorium. Oil also emits 20 pounds of carbon dioxide per gallon of gasoline, which is 20 pounds more than thorium emits. Today’s reactors use about 5% of the fuel given, leaving 95% to be disposed of which can be a problem. This much waste causes us to dispose of it in a way that causes a lot of harm to the ecosystems such as dumping in lakes and rivers. Oil is also non-renewable, meaning that once we use it all, we won’t have it for a long time. Running out of fuel today would cause chaos, and the U.S. alone uses over 20 million barrels of oil per day. That’s why we need to switch now. Even though oil won’t run out for a very long time, it’s better to switch early.
Thorium would be a clean and inexpensive replacement for oil. Oil is nonrenewable, dangerous to work with, and is destroying our planet. We need to focus on saving this planet one step at a time. The switch to thorium would definitively be a huge step, for the earth,