[Green-Activist] Good news - for a change!

[Clemens Vermeulen]

On Saturday 29 April 2006 18:49, John Hill wrote:
> [Green-Activist] Good news - for a change!
>  Date: Yesterday 18:49:24
>  From: "John Hill" <wynhill at bigpond.com>
>  To: "maillist for Green Activists" <green-activist at lists.altnews.com.au>
>  Reply to: maillist for Green Activists
> <green-activist at lists.altnews.com.au>
>
> Dear Friends:
>
> I have just read the most heartening article I have read for a long, long
> time - "Is it all over for Nuclear Power?" by Michael Brooks, in the
> current issue of New Scientist magazine (22 April 2006), pp. 33-37.

Full article in PDF format (26.5kb) here:

http://altnews.com.au/

Clemens



>
> It is not only very topical because of the big recent increase in
> (deceitful) propaganda FOR nuclear power - but in light of Australia's
> involvement with uranium exports.
>
> Do please get the magazine and read the whole article, but here are a few
> tidbits to whet your appetite in the meantime:
>
>     "Of the electricity added to the worldwide supply in 2004, micropower
> technologies generated almost three times as much as nuclear. Spain and
> Germany's ventures into wind power alone added as much power capacity in
> 2004 as the world's nuclear industry will add from 2000 to 2010. Industry
> projections indicate that by 2010, renewable and low-carbon sources will
> offer 177 times as much added capacity as nuclear. This is not going to be
> enough to power the world; large-scale fossil-fuel generators will still be
> needed in this timescale. But the overarching global trend is clear. Few
> new nuclear stations will be operating by 2020, and by the time these
> plants are even half-built, there will be enough low or no-carbon
> electricity available from non-nuclear sources to give investors in nuclear
> plants second thoughts."
>
> "Contrary to what is often said, we are getting better at controlling our
> hunger for electricity. If you want proof, just ask the US firms who built
> gas-fuelled power plants capable of producing 200 gigawatts of electricity,
> and then found that the anticipated demand they were catering for never
> materialized. The investors lost $100 billion. According to Lovins,
> worldwide electrical savings, or "negawatts", now match or exceed global
> additions of low or no-carbon micropower. So far, EPRI says, we have only
> scratched the surface of possible efficiency increases; it is estimated
> that the US could save three-quarters of the electricity it now uses. Some
> states are making progress towards this goal. In California, energy use per
> capita has been flat for 30 years, and the state has issued plans to halve
> its rate of growth of electricity by 2013. Vermont has done even better,
> with efficiency measures that have already cut per capita energy use."
>
>     "According to projections by the International Energy Agency and a
> handful of energy industry experts, 2005 was the first year nuclear power's
> electricity output dropped behind that of small-scale plants producing low
> or no carbon emissions (see Graph, page 34) - and that's not counting large
> hydroelectric projects on the low-carbon side of the balance sheet."
>
> "In January, the financial analyst Standard & Poors issued a report saying
> that even new incentives for the US nuclear industry [almost $20 billion in
> incentives were announced by the US govt. last Aug.] will not be enough to
> persuade investors to climb aboard; from a business perspective, nuclear
> remains the highest-risk form of power generation."
>
> There is lots more of interest in the article - particularly about the
> economics of it all (which certainly don't look promising for the
> proponents of nuclear power) - do have a read and ponder about it all.
>
> All best wishes,
>
> Cheers,
>
> John Hill
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-- 
Clemens Vermeulen
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