Display:
, with his ethanol powered saab, has already shown us what kind of clue he possesses with respect to sustainability.

Conventional nuclear energy is essentially free from CO2 emissions

key weasel word highlit.

i'd really like to see the EU w-a-y more progressive on energy, and so far i think we're being very short-sighted, and the usual suspects are working overtime to spin nuclear for the people to swallow, extending and prolonging the old paradigm for grid technology.

i do appreciate how much better our attitudes here in yurp for truly sustainable energy (especially regarding farming and alternative electricity supply) are than in certain other quarters of the globe, but i suspect nuclear is really a red herring.

the energy moguls want a centralised grid, while they enrich their media friends with endless greenwashing ads that do not convince anyone, in fact raise another generation of young people who have to learn the hard way how many lies they eat with their media cornflakes every day.

that way, people will argue about nuclear, while coal slides in as default...

similar to an argument i'm listening to on foxy news from one clown who's pointing to the ethanol 'boondoggle' (his word), and using that as (il)logical lever to justify drilling in Alaska, and off the coasts (and some of the prettiest, highest-valued coast).

these people are fossil fools, and if it weren't for progress in intelligent solutions such as those promulgated by Our Founder, i would probably check out from europe...again....

these spin doctors will tie themselves in knots trying to sell us what they believe will profit them the most, the longest.

as for italy, one look at naples right now should tell anyone all they need to know as to whether this country has a responsible attitude to governance, or respect for the environment.

damn, it's sad sometimes to see what were up against, we who believe that nuclear power rollout to try and sustain these chaotically, pathologically greedy, wasteful and racist energy and transport policies we debate so thoroughly here at ET, would be a gigantically, titanically retrogressive step for humanity.

in fact the metaphor (tho' inexact and inverted!), cervantes used for don quixote of windmills, was strangely prescient...it does seem quixotic to try and face off against a multibillion dollar-powered set of lying interests, just like anyone trying to point out the folly of the hedge funds ponzi schemes a few years ago might have felt.

at least the statues at easter island are noble looking, in a silly kind of way.

old nuke plants, not so much.

look at china's growth with solar, and wonder why they are growing so much faster than we are in the west.

the only reason i can see for that is that vested interests there have less ability to buy politicians, anyone show me a better one? ( i know they're going coal'n'nuke in a big way too).

besides they take too long to build, even if they weren't evil for so many other reasons, we're out of time.

meanwhile i expect the media saturation about rosy nuke futures to amp up, proportionately to every working windfarm that gets up and running.

monster windplants are great, but we need to think about decentralising the grid, and putting power production closer to consumption.

the 'iron laws' of economics come down in favour of it, after all, or will inevitably, after enough people realise that their taxes would be better invested in incentivising smaller-scale, decentralised grid technology.

the amount spent on the media will be astronomical, and could much better be invested in promoting wind and solar.

2c

~Government budget deficits are not nearly as dangerous as the deficits we have created in vital and complex natural systems.~ Naomi Klein.

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Mon May 19th, 2008 at 06:19:55 AM EST
I love your "little pixel-droppings" as you call them down-thread.

Your case is strong, but there is room for the base-load stability of nuclear - under the correct controls, which is to say, just like all other technical endeavors. 20% of power generated might be about right for, say, the next 40 years, while we get the solar-based technologies fully deployed and establish a sustainability ethic in the world.

You don't want Italy to run a nuclear-based generation plant, and you may have a case there, too. I don't have firsthand experience, but it seems that France has a fairly good system. Seems, also, that recycling of the 'spent' fuel is the obvious field for further R&D.

paul spencer

by paul spencer (spencerinthegorge AT yahoo DOT com) on Wed May 21st, 2008 at 03:18:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Display:
Login
. Make a new account
. Reset password
Recommended Diaries
Clipping the wings of a judge
by Migeru - Feb 10
30 comments

Hunger March wins PR battle
by DoDo - Feb 9
3 comments

Romania: protests change government
by DoDo - Feb 8
6 comments

Murdoch - Outsourcing and Hubris
by ceebs - Feb 3
18 comments

Obama wins GOP Primaries (to date)
by Frank Schnittger - Feb 8
8 comments

Sarkozy: Enemies Ahoy!
by afew - Feb 10
13 comments

LQD: Unsustainable irrigation
by Melanchthon - Feb 9

Bristol Pound
by ChrisCook - Feb 7
14 comments

Recent Diaries
Sarkozy: Enemies Ahoy!
by afew - Feb 10
13 comments

Clipping the wings of a judge
by Migeru - Feb 10
30 comments

LQD: Unsustainable irrigation
by Melanchthon - Feb 9

Hunger March wins PR battle
by DoDo - Feb 9
3 comments

Obama wins GOP Primaries (to date)
by Frank Schnittger - Feb 8
8 comments

Romania: protests change government
by DoDo - Feb 8
6 comments

Answers to the Renewable Energy Consultation
by Luis de Sousa - Feb 7

Bristol Pound
by ChrisCook - Feb 7
14 comments

The Imitation Of Germany
by afew - Feb 4
31 comments

Strange Fruit
by Frank Schnittger - Feb 4
14 comments

Murdoch - Outsourcing and Hubris
by ceebs - Feb 3
18 comments

Mismatch with the Natural Gas Market
by Luis de Sousa - Feb 3
22 comments

The Future of Economics
by ARGeezer - Feb 2
191 comments

Desert Island Discs - Helen's distortions
by Helen - Jan 31
48 comments

Gorila
by DoDo - Jan 29
14 comments

Rail News Blogging #7
by DoDo - Jan 29
15 comments

Obama's State Of The Union: LQD
by Crazy Horse - Jan 25
74 comments

Democracy Technology
by gmoke - Jan 24
1 comment

The Hydrogen dream
by Luis de Sousa - Jan 24
49 comments

ET Paris Meet-Up 2012 (2 UPDATE)
by afew - Jan 23
113 comments

More Diaries...
Occasional Series