5 Just saving, attempted IPW diary. << Prev Next >>
by: ColonelZen	IP: 226.58	rated: 0-0	posted: 2007-02-10 23:31:54
(I wrote this, slightly edited, as a comment to David Brin's blog. As a noted futurist [in the best sense] science fiction writer and physicist who has lately taken to commenting on politics, I am curious as to his opinions on the matter. But of course I would like as much comment and discussion from all interested. For some reason, possibly vaguely connected to having children I would like to see have happy lives, I think it is important)     I've read some of the articles on "renewable" energy sources. But with my rather dated scientific knowledge I seriously doubt that however heroic the efforts any combination of renewable energy technologies can give this world what it needs most desparately - power to provide a comfortable standard of living for all the world's peoples.     I tend to see the US's current adventurism as little more than a desparate attempt to maintain access to the dwindling reserves of oil. Shameful.     Workable fusion might be discovered next month ... or it might not happen for another fifty years.     The only *real* solution I see is nuclear power and lots of it. Western commercial reactors have an amazing saftey record. (I gravely misdoubt the alarmist scenarios constructed around TMI; Chernobyl - an abysmal primitive design pressed into economic service for political reasons - simply should not have been allowed to happen - I've no idea what did happen as to recrimination but people should have been hanged for allowing it to happen) and even a handfull of catastrophic failures per century is better than the cold slow death of civilization I forsee without it.     I doubt the US any longer has the political will to do what is needed - a crash program, NOW, to begin construction of new plants - and a lot of them - doing things "right" involves planning for   displacement of ALL non renewable carbon energy sources in the next 50 [ideally less] years with additional surplusses to account for growth of the population and economy. If we wait until heating oil is rationed and have nationwide scheduled brownouts to conserve it will be too late.     Are any countries actually doing this on a scale that could make a difference? A brief bit encounter with google turns up an OK for new construction in England and discussions of new plants in China, and even the Bush administration has sent up a flyer but no nation I'm aware of has announced any program - or even plans to discuss such - on the scale I believe the situation calls for.     -- TWZ