ENERGY SOURCES—ALTERNATIVES 311
producing another atom of helium-4, an additional 4.8 MeV
of energy, and most importantly, an atom of tritium which
is recovered and fed to the fusion device, along with fresh
deuterium to fuel the reactor. Thus, the D–T concept pro-
duces a net 22.4 MeV for each deuterium atom supplied,
but also requires a continuous supply of lithium-6 and seems
to be limited by the availability of this material rather than
deuterium.
There are 1.028 10 25 atoms of deuterium per cubic
meter of seawater or about 1.5 10 43 atoms in all of the
oceans. Recovery and utilization of 1% of these in a D–D
Reaction would provide 1.14 10 26 Btu of energy.
The measured and probable resources of lithium in the
US amount to about 21 10 6 tons containing 6.54 10 34
atoms of lithium-6. Since the number of lithium-6 atoms
recoverable appear to be less than the deuterium resources,
the energy available through the D–T reaction is limited
by the availability of lithium-6 to about 2.2 10 2 Btu, an
amount comparable to the energy content of the world’s coal
resources.
In spite of all research and development work for fusion
reactors no reliable statement can be given whether it will be
possible to reach the aim to develop an economically working
fusion reactor. On the other hand the successful development
of such a fusion reactor would be an enormous gain and worth
all efforts.^36Geothermal SourcesThe temperature of earth increases with depth at the rate of
about 2°F every 100 feet in rock and at about 3 times therate near natural steam sources. The thermal energy in deep
underground zones can be recovered either by tapping natu-
ral steam or hot water sources, or by fracturing dry hot rock
formations and flooding them with water to generate steam
for use in a conventional steam-electric power plant. As this
energy is withdrawn it is replaced by the normal conduction
of heat from below. The installed electrical capacity in 1980
of such power plants was about 1350 MW in the world, the
capacity of heat plants about 5500 MW. Recent surveys indi-
cate a potential electrical output of 20,000 MW from natu-
ral steam sources in California’s Imperial Valley, with a like
amount available in Oregon. The use of nuclear explosives
to fracture hot rock formations can extend the availability of
this resource considerably and is under study by the AEC.
In comparison with other energy sources the presently
used geothermal energy is extremely low, even if it may
locally be of great importance. There is no hope that in the
near future its contribution to the total energy consumption
will be more than 1–2%.Tidal and Wave PowerThe energy resource of tidal power results from gravitational
interaction between the earth and the moon. It may be har-
nessed by constructing dams in tidal areas to create a difference
in elevation between two bodies of water. The potential energy
in the higher body of water can then be recovered to produce
electrical power by the same techniques used in hydroelectric
plants. The maximum energy recoverable is proportional to the
area of the basin and to the square of the tidal range. In NorthTABLE 13
United States crude oil production by area and sulfur content category—1966AreaCrude oil
production, %
of USAnnual crude oil production, 10^6 bbl
sulfur, weight %
0.00–0.25 0.26–0.50 0.51–1.00 1.01–2.00 2.00 Total
Alaska 0.47 14.3 — — — — 14.3
Appalachia 0.68 20.4 — 0.1 — — 20.5
California 11.34 25.7 40.7 110.1 122.5 45.4 344.4
Gulf Coast 29.52 568.4 328.4 0.4 — — 897.2
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky 3.02 67.3 24.2 — — — 91.5
Michigan 0.47 12.0 0.9 1.2 0.1 — 14.2
Mid-continent 23.09 215.2 227.9 145.1 79.6 33.8 701.6
Rocky Mountain 9.08 140.4 23.1 47.7 14.0 50.7 275.9
Southeastern US 2.14 13.8 20.0 1.5 7.1 22.5 64.9
West Texas and Southeast
New Mexico20.19 150.2 107.4 90.2 171.3 94.4 613.5Totals 100.00 1227.7 772.6 396.3 394.6 246.8 3038.0Source: McKinney, C.M., and E.M. Shelton, Sulfur Content of Crude Oils of the Free World, US Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of
Mines, Report of Investigations 7059, 1967, Washington, DC.C005_006_r03.indd 311C005_006_r03.indd 311 11/18/2005 12:05:48 PM11/18/2005 12:05:48 PM