Sieg,
Just a few short statements in response to your post, since a long reply for each item would probably start a protracted debate.
- Nuclear power will be not disappear since it's being considered as green energy due to zero emision of greenhouse gases. Gas is cheap currently, and better than coal and oil, but even the cleanest gas burning still produces greenhouse gases that are subject to the Kyoto restriction. Nuclear plants are expensive up front, but the cost of nuclear fuel is very low compared to other fuel. It's the cheapest (and cleanest, some would say) way to generate power.
- Country like France, Japan are not going to go away from nuclear since they don't want to be at the mercy of oil and gas producers. The 2 biggest blocks of humanity, China and India, with 1.4 and 1.3 billion people respectively, are going nuclear in a big way because the emission from burning fossil fuel, in terms of air pollution are choking people to death. India is expanding its nuclear program just like China.
- China is spear-heading its pebble bed nuclear reactor program which would use quite a bit of graphite. This is an area ZEN might want to get in, but this is China long-range project and the demand will not happen right away, but many years from now.
- The "nuclear-grade" used in those reactors may not require better than 99.97% purity. Lower purity may be acceptable depending on the efficiency one would be prepared to accept from "burning" nuclear fuel, which is a cheap component in the running of a nuclear reactor. So, they could use a bit more fuel to compensate for a lower efficiency.
- Batteries for home use are good for back-up power (crucial for folks living in Canada, or they would freeze to death if there is a long power interruption) and power shifting, i.e. collect power from the grid during off-peak (cheap rate) and use the battery power during peak hours. But this scheme need a steady source of power generation... and nuclear is the best way to provide this base load.
- An off-grid battery-equiped home would need supporting equipment (e.g. inverter) to go along with a $3-4k Tesla battery and installation by qualified electrician. But the biggest cost would be the solar panels (which could cost over $10k). As a total package, this is not cheap, and it may deter people from jumping in. However, I would consider having a battery unit connected to the grid (solar panel is an option, if affordable) as a back-up power source, just in case another ice storm that would knock off the grid for several days.
All we need is enough power from that Li-ion battery (with ZEN graphite of course) to keep the water pipe from freezing, to run one hot plate for cooking. Presumably, there would be enough power to run one computer and one smart phone. The people can put on thick sweaters.
In summary, ZEN graphite would find itself in e-cars and energy storage devices in the next few years...and perhaps a decade or two later in the graphite moderated nuclear reactors.
goldhunter
