Edmund Storms <stor...@ix.netcom.com> wrote: Jed, it is too late because no practical way exists to stop burning fossil > fuels. >
I am sorry but this is nonsense. The Chinese are presently building 30 nuclear power reactors, and they are installing roughly that much wind power. If the U.S., Europeans and the Japanese were to build reactors, wind and solar at that rate, and if all First World countries were to aggressively develop plug-in electric cars and pure electric cars in crash projects, within 20 years we could reduce fossil fuel use by a large margin. We could export this technology to the Third World. We could also begin massive reforestation projects to capture CO2. We could also help Third World people replace kerosene illumination with solar powered LED lights. These projects would cost a great deal of money but they would also have many benefits aside from reversing global warming. There are countless other ways we could rapidly reduce fossil fuel use. We lack only the will, not the means. Even without cold fusion we could stop the threat of global warming in a generation, and make a huge profit doing it. > The demand for energy is rising too rapidly, especially in China. It is > impossible to satisfy this demand without burning coal, natural gas, and > oil. > This is simply not true. It hasn't been true since commercial nuclear power was developed. There is a huge supply of uranium in the world. In France, they get 80% of their electricity from it! Fukushima demonstrated the risks and disadvantages of nuclear power. Obviously it is not ideal. Nothing is. It is better than continuing with fossil fuel and raising the sea level by 9 m in 80 years. - Jed
