Nowapan's policy for many years has been to have a basket of energy sources and to never let the country become too dependent upon any one source. The present form of this policy groups energy sources into 4 categories as below, each of which will be taken up in turn;

Coal
Although coal has receded as an important source of energy since the introduction of FEP, it still supplies a significant quantity of electricity. Coal fields are found in the Great Central Valley, along the southern edges of the Steppes and near Cook's Bay. Those of the Great Central Valley are especially valued due to their low sulfur content, reducing the cost of pollution abatement measures. The Ministry of Energy plans to gradually reduce coal usage but total replacement is not forseen for decades.

Natural Gas
Natural Gas remains an important source of energy in Nowapan. Most of the Natural Gas used is produced in southeastern Pan. It is used for heating homes, producing electricity and for some petrochemicals. There has been an increased interest over the last decade or so in the use of Natural Gas (i.e. methane) powered vehicles. With adequate Natural Gas supplies for decades to come, there are no plans to deemphasize its use.

Oil
Nowapan entered the 20th Century with only a single known oil field, located in western Pan. This situation persisted until 1933 when vast oil fields were located in south-eastern Pan. Oil has never been so widely consumed as in other countries. It is used for petrochemicals, lubricants and as fuel for aircraft, ships and many military vehicles but rarely for private vehicles. Additional oil fields have been discovered on the steppes east of the Herowi and in LaPerouseland but only slight development has taken place. For the forseeable future, Nowapan has more than adequate supplies of oil. Despite this, Nowapan has only rarely exported oil, most notably during the Oil Crisis of 1973 when they sold oil to build up foreign exchange reserves.

Hydrodynamic
Hydrodynamic dams have never been as important in Nowapan as they are in some other countries. There are several large and significant dams, especially along the eastern Herowi, but most are much smaller. No new large dam project has been approved since the 1960's. Many farms and small rural towns build small scale hydrodynamic projects to supply part of their electric supply although within a strict set of standards. The general consensus is that dam projects should not be a primary source of energy for large communities in the future.

Solar
Most important in the south but used over much of Pan. Almost all buildings in the southern region, and many elsewhere, have photo-electric cells and/or passive solar systems on their roofs, resulting in a significant addition to the net power resources. As more and more electric vehicles come into production, solar will somewhat increase in importance since so many of these have solar cells imbedded in their roofs.

Tidal
Tidal power stations were the subject of much research and a lot of spending in the 1970's and 1980's but much of that has tapered off in recent years. There are only 2 large power plants, one on the northwest coast and another in the central east coast. There are 3 smaller plants as well, all on the east coast. At the present time, there are no plans to expand their numbers due in part to the limited number of available sites.

Wind
Wind power is also utilized as a Local Power Source, particularly on the eternally wind blown Steppes. Many farms and homesteads have their own wind-mill power sources which are surprisingly effecient in those areas. A few small coastal towns have utilized wind-power systems but there are no plans for its wide scale promotion.

Fission
FEP reactors supply most of the electricity generated in Nowapan today. There has been a continual effort to make reactors safer, smaller, more efficient, and cheaper and generally speaking, Nowapan's reactors are the most advanced in the world in each of those categories. There are currently (1998) 64 FEP reactors on line and new ones are being built at the rate of 1 every 2 years. Nowapan has adequate supplies of uranium for the near future but has put the first two of three planned Fast-Breeder Reactors on line in order to insure a future supply of fissionable material. Reactor wastes are stored in two deep, long term facilities, both in the Central Steppes. Wastes are routinely mixed with waste soil and vitrified in situ. The solid mass is then safe to haul to the waste disposal sites.

Fusion
Nowapan continues to be the world leader in Fusion research although they readily admit they are a long way from a workable Fusion Electric Power plant. Research is being conducted at 3 different sites with that on the east coast actually able to produce more power than it consumes, albeit in tiny amounts.

Alcohol
Almost all cars, buses, and other motor vehicles in Nowapan run on alcohol based fuels. Alcohol is produced from a wide variety of biomass sources but the most important are the grain pt�.la and domestic hemp nge.ze. Alcohol for fuel is routinely mixed with an oil derived from the Grease Plant ze.bh�. The resulting mixture burns cleanly and reliably across a wide range of temperatures. While the Oil Crisis of 1973 did not directly affect Nowans, it did make them more conscious of the dangers associated with a great reliance on a single fuel source for public transportation. This was coupled with the realization that Nowapan was nearing the limits on the amounts of land that could be utilized for fuel biomass production. Since then there have been concerted and largely successful efforts to reduce or at least contain, alcohol based fuel consumption. Alcohol will remain the primary motor vehicle fuel for the forseeable future but efforts continue to look into other Renewable energy sources.

Gobar/Methane
Gobar geneators are small, farm based apparatuses which are used to convert animal wastes and some plant biomasses into methane gas. Most farms are able to provide for their own heating needs as well as enough methane to fuel methane burning vehicles and farm equipment. Recently, there has been a move to develop large Gobar generators to convert human wastes to methane rather than building ever larger water filtration plants. This trend is likely to continue in the future.

Hydrogen
Hydrogen remains the Holy Grail of Nowan energy policy. A great deal of money and resources have been poured into developing a Hydrogen based economy but with very mixed results. It has been hoped that it would be possible to site nuclear power plants along largely barren stretches of shore and use them to produce the power to break down sea water into its constituent gases. Some small villages along the northern coast are using the Hydrogen produced in this manner but large scale transportation remains difficult because of the difficulties associated with leaks due to the small size of Hydrogen atoms. Many government vehicles now burn hydrogen which is stored in Titanium hydrides in an easily replaceable fuel tank. There are no plans to give up on Hydrogen and more money continues to be directed at the transportation problems.

Incineration
Incineration is the preferred method of dealing with rubbish in Nowapan. A brief flirtation with the recycling mania led to a dramatic decrease in the use of incineration. However the realization of the environmental costs of the transportation and reprocessing of materials to be recycled saw the shift to a combination of the two processes. Incineration has become an important source of energy for many Nowan cities. The power derived far exceeds the savings that would have come from recycling the materials.

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© 2001 Brad Coon

Revised August 29, 2001

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