Over the course of 2011, western governments (UK, Canada, USA) have been reminded of this technology by enthusiasts wondering why it continues to sit neglected. India is moving ahead with a sub-optimal solid fuel thorium reactor (India has lots of thorium, and no uranium). China is moving ahead with the very same concept developed now neglected by the U.S. Government.

2012 will be the year everyone learns about the potential of thorium energy. Why?

We have video.

Motherboard TV has just released THE THORIUM DREAM.

I’ve heard thorium dismissed as an energy source many times by environmentalists: “Why bother? Let’s develop renewable energy instead. We know that works!”

The problem with renewable energy, is that hydro is often conflated to give the impression that solar/wind account for a meaningful amount of energy generation. Here, hydro can be compared to solar/wind.

Whether or not hydro is green (it has significant environmental impact), it is certainly renewable. It is reliable. And it is completely tapped-out. What is not clear from the above graph is which energy sources are dependable.

Here (below) is a random day’s data I grabbed from Texas ERCOT online stats.

Here we see solar’s maximum output being reached… when the energy is not needed. And in many solar deployments, cloudy days are worse than overcast days because the solar farm can’t handle rapid fluctuations in sunlight as clouds pass in front of the sun… they direct their panels/mirrors away from the sun to protect the hardware, and not send energy spikes into the power grid.

This doesn’t mean wind/solar can’t generate useful electricity. Or energy generated with wind/solar isn’t displacing fossil fuel use and reducing CO2 emissions. It is. Yay for that.

But solar/wind are bloody expensive in terms of $/watt during peak hours. And that replacing 20% of our electricity consumption with solar/wind is a completely different scenario from replacing 50% of our electricity production with solar/wind.

Solar/wind will hit a deployment wall, as the off-peak energy they generate becomes less-and-less valuable. Every needed watt not serviced by solar/wind needs the very same investment in oil/gas/coal/nuclear infrastructure we’d be paying for anyway. As more solar/wind farms are deployed, they become increasingly redundant! This may not be immediately apparent, given whatever subsidies are in place and how they are structured. All we’ll see is yet another increase in the cost of essential services. Our cost of living will go up. Our industries will become less competitive. We simply can’t afford to build our electricity supply infrastructure twice over.

So here’s my new video, THORIUM REMIX 2011. It is something I’ve wanted to create since 2009. And I dropped everything to make it as soon as I had the video assets to do so. THORIUM REMIX 2011 explains how LFTR works. Why the Molten Salt Reactor experiment was killed. The problems with today’s nuclear reactors. And finally, it asks what might our world look like with abundant cheap, clean, non-greenhouse-gas emitting energy at our disposal?

The best way to address climate change is to offer a cheaper energy source which does not emit greenhouse gasses. Cheaper. Cheaper doesn’t care if you are an environmentalist or not. Cheaper can’t be dismissed by conservatives as a misguided waste of taxpayer money.

Cheaper love you long time. And that’s thorium, converted to energy in a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor.

Tyler (ie: @Poploser) has a pretty cool new project going on over at 52Mixtapes.com.

I love my iPod. I do. And iTunes. But they’ve changed the way people listen to music. Mostly this is for the better. If anything, people actually do listen to music these days. Or at least more music. The volume of options and level of access is staggering.

But it’s not all good. Sharing music is, in my opinion, at an all-time low. Even with things like Ping and MOG and iLike and Spotify and Rdio, sharing music with your friends in the internet age lacks the personal touch, grace and devotion of previous media.

Enter, or rather re-enter, the mix tape.

I was pretty stoked to contribute a new take on a double sided set.

So yeah.. Go check it out. You can even subscribe via iTunes (new music each week = awesome).

Plikums Sarunas / 010 – Eike König from Plikums on Vimeo.

Earlyups Takes Skiing. Seriously. from Earlyups on Vimeo.

That is all.

Backcountry? Check. Powder? Check. Surfboard? uh.. check!

FROM STEEL: The Making of a Soulcraft from michael evans on Vimeo.

PROFESSIONal from VITA BREVIS FILMS on Vimeo.

Metal-fabricator Neil Youngberg never planned on taking over his grandfather’s business and is now faced with passing on his legacy.

In this short-form profile, VitaBrevisFilms interviews Neil Youngberg for the beginning exploration of our “Professional” series. Shot on location in Neil’s metal fabrication shop, the 3rd generation craftsman gives a sincere overview of his life’s work, dispensing hard-worn wisdom while illuminating the sobering realities of the role private business plays in an ever changing economic landscape. A deeply personal project for all involved, this on-going series seeks to shed-light on forgotten trades and practices in an evolving America.

It’s a shame to only have dreams at night. You should have a few opportunities during the day.” This wistful quote from Stephen Alesch speaks volumes about the spaces he and Robin Standefer create as architects and designers. Their firm Roman & Williams, is named for their grandparents, paying homage to another era. Together, they draw on the evocative moods, textures, and meaningful objects that linger somewhere between past and present. Their work is infused with memory and allows participants to connect with a more romantic and important time.

Architects are cool.