1. Bussard's fusion reactor is capable of fusing hydrogen & boron-11, producing electricity cleanly. I think if that option is available, versus one that does produce radioactivity, then we should choose the clean option.
2. Even if someone could justify using fusion-generated steam to pump oil, we should not allow every oilfield to have a fusion reactor, because of the security concerns with radioactive waste, the cost and logistics of having thousands upon thousands of them spead out over the whole world.
3. I can't speculate on how other countries use oil, but in USA 83% of oil is used specifically for transportation fuel or other non-fuel uses, and 5% is exported. So at most 12% is burned as heating oil in industrial, residential buildings. Can't get any more accurate with the data I have. So, maybe you're right after a fashion, but clean electricity doesn't necessarily mean cheap electricity. In many rural areas heating oil is cheaper than electric heaters because of transmission costs. Alot of people purposely install wood burners, and so they won't have to turn on the electric heat. Granted, building codes require them to keep the temperature from falling below freezing. But infrastructure still costs money. The use of fusion won't necessarily displace oil consumption. Maybe if homes had better insulation, but even then I don't know.... And now I'm wondering if electric cars would really be cheaper! Maybe only in cities, where transmission costs are low.
Space/Science » in reply to Where do I begin?
Let me clarify
