[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

...70% of all our electricity could come from 10% of Nevada.

And what does covering that large an area do to the environment? You don't know, and neither does anyone else.

northern and central midwest USA and the coasts for wind -- 33% for the whole country of all out electricity could be generated in South Dakota alone.

And what do that many wind turbines do to the environment? You don't know, and neither does anyone else.

coasts for wave and tidal -- the moon is always orbiting the earth, and wind is almost always blowing over some parts of the oceans

And what do those tidal energy systems do to the ocean life? You don't know, and neither does anyone else.

geothermal where it naturally occurs close to the surface or where ever a deep hole is drilled

OK, I'll give you this one :-) It makes perfect sense, where you have appropriate geothermal resources (even if it means I can't go soak in the hot springs up the road 'cause they built a geothermal plant there). Problem is, unless you live in Iceland, there aren't enough geothermal areas.

biomass and biofuels can be done anywhere they are produced -- this can be methane, alcohol, biodiesel, biofuel cells, etc.

Which is fine as long as you're using biomass that would have been waste anyway, but there's not enough of that to come anywhere close to meeting demand. Start growing crops for energy... well, look at the reaction to the little bit of US ethanol production :-) In this case, we DO know what the effects could be, and they're scary. Just consider how large parts of Africa have been deforested by the most basic biofuel use - wood for cooking fires.

heat can be extracted from the ground, or from sewage pipes, or even from composting plant material. Heat and electricity can be gotten from compost and plant trimmings.

Sure, and a lot of those things are worth doing. Add them all together, though, and you still don't get anywhere close to meeting demand without running the risk of serious environmental consequences.

So you want to DEPEND on this mixed bag of sources, with limited efficiency, using unproven technology, and having unknown environmental effects? And all because you're afraid to face a few anti-nuclear superstitions?