Arjun Makhijani's plan for America's energy future is nothing if not audacious. At a time when discussions of oil drilling and the cost of gasoline dominate the national political scene, the Indian- born physicist's voice is a relatively quiet one.

Lacking the capitalist star power of Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens , Makhijani drew smaller audiences during a recent trip through New Mexico.

But among alternative energy advocates, Makhijani's book -- "Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free, a Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy" -- has become a touchstone.

Makhijani, who earned his doctorate in physics at the University of California Berkeley, has for more than two decades been one of the U.S. anti-nuclear community's leading intellectuals.

But he recognized several years ago, he said, a fundamental dilemma faced by environmentalists. One camp bitterly opposes the use of coal to generate electricity because of the climate change- causing greenhouse gases it spews. Another camp strongly opposes one of the key alternatives -- nuclear power.

"The anti-nuclear people find themselves in a box," he said in an interview during a recent visit to Albuquerque. "They can't say, 'go build a coal-fired power plant.' " When Makhijani launched his analysis of the nation's energy future two years ago, he did not see the way out of the dilemma. "I went into this not thinking it could be done," he said. But his book offers a hopeful message, backed up with a bigpicture numerical analysis arguing that alternative energy sources -- solar and wind energy, biofuels and smart use of hydroelectric power -- can meet the nation's energy needs without either coal or nuclear power.

Makhijani argues that the nuclear power piece of the puzzle will take care of itself for reasons that are largely economic. He notes that the U.S. nuclear industry is pushing for government loan guarantees and other subsidies to pay for the fleet of new reactors they want to build. On its own, Makhijani argues, nuclear power is just too expensive.

"Nuclear power is very likley to be economically obsolete before the first (new) power plant comes on line," Makhijani said.

Meanwhile, he pointed out, wind power is coming into its own economically, and he argues the cost of solar power will also continue dropping. To make those new power sources work, however, new energy storage technology will be needed to overcome the problem that power from the wind and sun are not always available.

Makhijani's plans are far more optimistic about the potential for renewable energy than the estimates coming from the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration. EIA estimates a 14 percent increase in nuclear power in this country by 2030, and only modest increases in renewable energy.

But Makhijani insists that, with proper government incentives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and encouraging the development of renewable energy, the path he lays out in his book is possible.

John Fleck writes on science issues for the Journal.

(c) 2008 Albuquerque Journal. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.