reply to post by C0bzz
Thank you, CObzz, for an informative reply!
I was thinking, would China even be at this point in their alternative energy R&D if it weren't for the income from their US exports? (Instead of us
using fossil fuels to make our much loved plastic crap, we offshored that dirty work to China.) And will China have more influence in developing
countries (like Africa) by offering them these energy alternatives? Life is not linearly simple.
Oh, here's the
Sierra Club
reply to their issue of support.
I guess even the issuance of drivers licenses would be a "license to kill" in a way. I'm pretty sure I personally won't kill someone with my car,
but that's not the case with a nuclear power plant.
Even the space shuttle program came close to the risk assessment assigned to it. Again, statistically, there is a risk. We cannot believe that no
deaths will occur because of a certain type of energy use. But, again, with nuclear, there is also the issue of storage.
I am old enough to remember when nuclear energy production was touted as unbelievably cheap. No mention to the public of safety or storage.
What is wrong is to portray the energy source as "clean", when no mention is made of how dirty is the process for extraction. How "clean" is
natural gas, when the extraction involves chemicals in amounts and combinations not found in nature? Or the safety of an LNG terminal?
When Americans think of their cost of a unit of energy, they mean the $ amt on their bill. Americans are not used to thinking in terms of the added
value cost of military deployments or of health, livelihood, way of live, or flaming tap water. The incentive to try a more "costly" alternative
(whether through conserving or other energy source) is thus misleadingly diminished. IOW we don't hear the full story.
The GOM oil leak brings up both issues of best safe practices and value added costs. Was BP practicing best safe practices (as environmental groups
advise)? No! Are Americans witnessing a much broader definition of the cost of a gallon of fuel? Yes!
Want to know who is the top customer of this CA manufacturer,
Zero Motorcycles? Europeans.
Well, all I know is that my time on Earth is statistically decreasing in a bigger way each day, so the energy-environmental problems need to be
addressed by the younger generations. It will be a different world 100 years from now, it must be if we all are to survive with decency and dignity.
Oh, I didn't directly answer this question. "So again if it's not Natural Gas what is it?" Ng should not be thought of as the "clean" source to
solve the world's energy problems. It should be one source using best safe practices, with true costs factored in, but geographic regions need to
develop renewables suitable to them. That plus universal housing and lifestyle alternatives need to be put into practice.