[dipesh747]

Hello all,

I realise that this might not be most peoples expertise but I was not sure where else I could ask the question. I am writing a piece of work to give to BP with the possibility of my 4th year university fee's being paid for. The question they have given us is as follows:

“BP has a diverse portfolio of activities underpinning its global business. Based on your experiences to date, how would you help BP to enhance its leading reputation in the Energy sector?”

I think there problem is reliance on fossil fuel so I was going to write about how they could become world leaders in nuclear power. Now obviously there are many problems power so I thought the essay would be about strategies of addressing these. I was going to mention

1. The use of Thorium as an alternative fuel
2. The use of a nuclear fusion-fission hybrid hybrid to destroy the nuclear waste http://www.utexas.edu/news/2009/01/27/nuclear_hybrid/

Does anyone know of any recent frontiers in physics regarding this matter that I could talk about? I do a Chemistry degree so I only have limited knowledge within this area. Any help would be very appreciated.

[fledarmus]

Does BP even have a nuclear program?

I don't believe trying to convince a fuel and oil company with substantial investments in alternative energies that they should now invest billions in cutting-edge research in muclear energy is exactly what the question is asking. And how are YOU going to be helping them with a brand new nuclear research program? Are you sufficiently experienced in nuclear chemistry or even market analysis to be able to assist with the research in any capacity?

You might want to do some more research on the projects they currently have, and see how you could "enhance [BP's] leading reputation" using their current strengths. This might be a good place to start looking: http://www.bp.com/modularhome.do?categoryId=7040&contentId=7051376

[dipesh747]

Yeah I see what you mean. I was going quite off topic considering my abilities. I did want to write something different that no one else would talk about (which is why I was avoiding renewable's),but I suppose it's not what there looking for.

Thanks

[Enthalpy]

Maybe BP could be interested in electricity storage?

Electricity storage would be very useful but is done little up to now (pump water between lake and dam). But several directions may progress these days:

- Compressed air stored in bags deep under water. Experiments are made:
http://www.energyharvestingjournal.com/articles/compressed-air-energy-storage-00003358.asp
The proponent is Pr. Seamus Garvey:
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/engineering/people/seamus.garvey
One energy company (I believe it's EON from Germany) takes part in the project.
I've put some engineering considerations there - without drawings, and it's a huge mess, sorry:
http://www.physforum.com/index.php?act=ST&f=5&t=21016 (try beginning at the end)

- My own enabling technologies for cheap flywheels there:
http://saposjoint.net/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=1974
you may begin with the drawings at the second page

BP may like storage for its own effort on renewable energy. Better: cheap storage allows to build fewer power plants and run them at full power; this seems a cheaper combination if the flywheels are as cheap as I estimated.