Unfortunately, a "combined cycle" natural gas generating plant beats the pants off nuclear plant costs and generation efficiency. Nuclear just cannot compete with them.
"And why not use that “gas bonanza” to power motor vehicles in urban areas ?
Actually, the first vehicles to make the change will probably be long-haul trucks. The problem is infrastructure. It's a lot easier to put natgas capacity in a "few" truckstops than to provide same for "urban areas".
"Or provide fertilizer to crop lands to create more food.
Natural gas is already the prime energy source to produce fertilizer.
“And why not use that “gas bonanza” to power motor vehicles in urban areas ?
However, it would be easier to switch all metro buses and school buses over to natural gas. Also, local delivery vehicles such as UPS and postal service trucks could be switched. These vehicles tend to operate from a central hub location where refueling could occur.
This is where the govt. can actually help by offering a tax credit to compensate for the cost to switching to a new fuel source.
There are a number of trucking companies that are switching to natural gas, either compressed or LNG. Currently, LNG is about half the cost of diesel (on an energy-equivalent basis). Converting trucks to dual-fuel (LNG/diesel) is expensive, but with more demand we can expect that truck manufacturers will start producing trucks that come off the assembly line as dual-fuel.
While I agree trucks are the most likely “first step” it won’t be “long-haul” units ! Most likely are urban/suburban delivery aps ! The weight penalty and power density issues will preclude NG in that ap unless desperation - or government stupididty - sets in! >PS