There is an estimated four billion tonnes of uranium dissolved in seawater.
Using electrochemical extraction, uranium energy resources are now available to any population with a coastline. The cost of the fuel is higher than for terrestrial uranium, at about four one-thousandths of a US cent per kWh (e) produced, but still cheaper than any other fuel.
This is enough uranium to supply humanity's current energy needs for ten millenia. Longer if we supplement with intermittent renewables (where and when those produce more energy than they consume over their working lives.)
Solving the problem "wrong" for most Western leaders, of course. The Establishment Left demand the imposition of a level of energy poverty Westerners haven't known since the early 1700s. The Establishment Right demand borrowing money to give to BlackRock to "sequester" CO2 at uneconomic prices with no plan for scaling up.
But I'm hopeful that China, India, Russia et. al will do the right thing.
Western economies can remain nuclear-free, and export minerals and sex-tourism once the credit cards max out.
#energy #nuclear #climatechange #carbon
quoting"The whole process cost about $83 per kilogram of extracted uranium. That is twice as cheap as physical adsorption methods, which cost about $205 per kilogram, and four times as cheap as previous electrochemical methods, which cost $360 per kilogram."
nevent1q…edwa
https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/New-Era-of-Nuclear-Power-Hinges-on-Seawater-Uranium-Extraction.html