Submitted by InterestedReader on January 16, 2007 - 8:19pm.
Thanks Neil for making a strong case for nuclear power. Fossil fuel accounts for 85% of the world energy consumption. Continued wars over oil and gas will intensify as sources of fossil fuels run low.
If we don't act very soon to replace fossil fuel as an energy source, climate change will be unstoppable. In the past when greenhouse gases went to the levels predicted to occur this century, the seas on our planet rose 80 feet above present levels. Because catastrophic sea level rise has happened before, climate scientists can predict with certainty that it will happen again if greenhouse gasses are allowed reach the critical level. There is no time to waste. If atmospheric carbon dioxide continues to grow “with business a usual” we will lower the carrying capacity of the planet. James Lovelock thinks that only one half billion of our 6.5 billion inhabitants will survive. Say goodbye to San Francisco, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. and nearly all of Florida. All will be under water.
Nuclear fission is the only currently available energy source that can meet base-load electricity need, create hydrogen from water, and provide desalination at high efficiency. When all three of these critical needs are harnessed together, the atom can be utilized at an efficiency of 80%. This efficiency will result in cheap electric, cheap hydrogen for transportation, and plenty of good drinking water for our world’s inhabitants. The advanced cycle generation of reactors is capable of using up the spent fuel from our current generation reactors. The new reactors’ only waste products after processing are fission products which require geologic storage for 300 to 500 years to decay to background. The amount of waste from the future reactors is reduced by 99% as compared to our current light water reactors. Useful amounts of plutonium and uranium needed for nuclear weapons are absent from the waste. Because the new generation reactors require much less uranium ore, uranium mines hold an essentially inexhaustible supply of fuel.
Nuclear energy is the safest by as much as two orders of magnitude over all other sources of energy. Neil makes a strong case that nuclear fission is the greenest and cheapest of energy sources.
We need all the resources that we can muster to have a fighting chance of avoiding the tipping point of greenhouse gases. Of course we should also push ahead with conservation and renewables.
While solar projects are getting slated for the deserts of ...
"Your [webinar] was informative, with an eye to the special issues that affect cleantech, such
as regulation and the international policy issues around climate change. Looking
forward to seeing more!"
Green energy is urgently needed
Thanks Neil for making a strong case for nuclear power. Fossil fuel accounts for 85% of the world energy consumption. Continued wars over oil and gas will intensify as sources of fossil fuels run low.
If we don't act very soon to replace fossil fuel as an energy source, climate change will be unstoppable. In the past when greenhouse gases went to the levels predicted to occur this century, the seas on our planet rose 80 feet above present levels. Because catastrophic sea level rise has happened before, climate scientists can predict with certainty that it will happen again if greenhouse gasses are allowed reach the critical level. There is no time to waste. If atmospheric carbon dioxide continues to grow “with business a usual” we will lower the carrying capacity of the planet. James Lovelock thinks that only one half billion of our 6.5 billion inhabitants will survive. Say goodbye to San Francisco, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. and nearly all of Florida. All will be under water.
Nuclear fission is the only currently available energy source that can meet base-load electricity need, create hydrogen from water, and provide desalination at high efficiency. When all three of these critical needs are harnessed together, the atom can be utilized at an efficiency of 80%. This efficiency will result in cheap electric, cheap hydrogen for transportation, and plenty of good drinking water for our world’s inhabitants. The advanced cycle generation of reactors is capable of using up the spent fuel from our current generation reactors. The new reactors’ only waste products after processing are fission products which require geologic storage for 300 to 500 years to decay to background. The amount of waste from the future reactors is reduced by 99% as compared to our current light water reactors. Useful amounts of plutonium and uranium needed for nuclear weapons are absent from the waste. Because the new generation reactors require much less uranium ore, uranium mines hold an essentially inexhaustible supply of fuel.
Nuclear energy is the safest by as much as two orders of magnitude over all other sources of energy. Neil makes a strong case that nuclear fission is the greenest and cheapest of energy sources.
We need all the resources that we can muster to have a fighting chance of avoiding the tipping point of greenhouse gases. Of course we should also push ahead with conservation and renewables.