A rational critic of nuclear energy as a practical solution to our energy and global warming problem:
"It's a measure of how urgent the CO2 problem has become that some antinuclear environmentalists have lately been willing to reconsider their long-standing opposition. Nuclear power, as its proponents frequently remind us, has killed far fewer people than coal mining, not to mention pollution from coal-fired power plants. But that doesn't mean there aren't rational reasons to be skeptical of it. There is still no permanent disposal site anywhere on Earth for waste that will remain dangerously radioactive for thousands of years. And the fear that a proliferation of civilian power plants could promote the proliferation of nuclear weapons has only grown more acute since September 11, 2001. The huge expansion of nuclear power that would be necessary for it to contribute significantly to resolving the CO2 problem is, in our opinion, just not going to happen."
Wallace Broecker and Robert Kunzig, "CO2 - Fixing Climate", chapter "Green is not enough".
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2 comments:
Le nucléaire ne sert de toute façon qu'à la production d'électricité (mis à part dans les sous-marins et quelques navires brise-glace, on ne s'en sert pas dans les transports)
The ultimate solution is decrase in demand for energy
Tiens, je suis allé voir le syndrome du Titanic hier, pas mal, un peu brouillon...
Yet another call for action, we should act !
I think that hoping for a decrease in demand for energy is utopic, given that human population is still growing, and that billions of people have still to come out of poverty, thanks to economic development, and therefore more energy demand!
The ultimate solution for me is to derive our energy either from the sun, or to imitate the sun to obtain our energy!
In the meantime, the book from Wallace Broecker and Robert Kunzig has shown me there may be a temporary solution that could help us avoid dangerous climate change, while giving us more time to devise clean, safe and unlimited energy production systems (see next post).
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