In HR, we have a saying...

[Banefull]

There is one very good solution that you rarely hear about with a lot of potential.

Its called the helium 3 reaction. Currently nuclear reactors utilize nuclear fission to heat up steam to turn a turbine. As much as I would like to see new nuclear power-plants, many people seem to have huge problems with the waste products.

For quite some time we have been attempting to harness the power of fusion which uses hydrogen to create heavier elements. The process does not involve any radioactive elements at all; however, excess neutrons produced in the process often severely damage the reactor.

One promising alternative is to use a different material for fusion called helium-3. Its a promising material that can sustain a fusion reaction with no harmful byproducts. The only problem with helium 3 is that its not found on Earth. Our only source of helium-3 comes from decommissioned nuclear weapons.

The only place that we can get helium 3 in large quantities is from the moon. An estimated 1,100,000 metric tons of helium-3 exist on the moon and its only buried a few meters deep. We hardly have to drill at all.

As things stand with our current technology, harvesting Helium-3 is actually economically viable. The stuff has so much potential for power generation that about 25 tonnes of helium-3 -- or a fully-loaded Space Shuttle cargo bay's worth -- could power the United States for a year. Yes, a few space shuttle shipments could power the world. Not to mention that helium-3 has a potential economic value of around $3 billion a tonne. (an interesting fact: helium-3 would price at $3 million a kilo, similar to Avatar's $20 million per kilogram with unobtanium; the price of unobtanium would be very realistic).

The stuff sounds almost too good to be true but many countries around the world have already announced plans to begin mining helium-3 within the next few decades.

To sum things up, if you want eco-friendly power, no waste products, sustainability for tens of thousands of years, then write to your governments to pump money into space programs.