Hummer.
Wow. This is a good read. The nickel in the batteries in a Prius is smelted at one of the worst polluting plants in the North America.
http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/edito...asp?NewsID=188
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Hummer.
Wow. This is a good read. The nickel in the batteries in a Prius is smelted at one of the worst polluting plants in the North America.
http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/edito...asp?NewsID=188
LOL, I wonder how their farts smell to them now! </Southpark reference>
The most environmentally friendly energy we have that can produce enough power to satisfy our economy is the one Greenies go the most nuts over.
I went past the Sudbury plant when I was a kid 30-35 years ago, and the landscape was lunar for 10-15 miles downwind due to all the H2SO4.
My Dad passed through about 6-8 years ago and claims that it's getting better.
As for greens losing it over nuclear, keep in mind that this is not universally the case. Link here.
BS
It's good to see that, now if we only had a competent President who could actually lead we might see nuclear power plants being built. What a disappointment that boob has been.
Worse yet: there's no announced serious candidate who appears to have the balls to lead in 2008, either. It's an opportunity for a dark horse who isn't already owned by the Greenies, or big oil, or other special interest groups. Mitt Romney, or Fred Thompson, perhaps?
Without nukes, it will be impossible to take advantage of the battery advances which could make electric powered vehicles viable as a significant portion of the vehicles on the road. Wind, solar, biomass, other renewables are all just nothing but "feel good" stories -- liberal propaganda -- which can't make a dent in satisfying ELV demand. So .... we're still stuck with oil, and ultimately we may be competing with the Red Chinese Army for control of the Arab oil fields.
Maybe Nancy Pelosi, fresh from her MidEast diplomatic "coup", will show us what a real leader is like and solve our energy problems.:rolling:
For the above renewables listed by Mista T:
1) Wind - The UK has quite possibly the highest ability to harvest wind energy and there's no real prospect of wind energy making up anymore than 10% of OUR energy requirements and that's even with combining on and off shore.
2) Solar - Has a role, but it's a minimal one, very useful for solar heating systems. Put one in your roof, pays itself off in about 5 or 6 years with British energy prices and can produce hot water even in the depth of winter in Britain, good option for domestic purposes, non-starter on a larger scale.
There are renewables that can close the gap of oil and gas, but it's easier for Europe because we have smaller energy demands and have Green Party's all across Europe who have real power so have tougher green legislation. HEP is another one that is an effective source of energy, but the quantity isn't good and you have to use energy to pump the water back up.
I attend the Uni with the best Environmental Sciences school in the UK (I don't do Env, I'm an ecologist, I get to observe animals and plants :D, though my dissertation was on education :() and the energy lecturers have assured us that basically the emphasis has got to be cut down consumption, put in place loads of stop gaps and basically sit and wait the 40 or 50 years until nuclear fusion is a with us.
There is no reason to cut back on consumption, which is another way of saying "devestate our economy." We need to tap into ANWR and start building nuclear power plants. Along with wind, solar and hydro (we do a pretty good job with hydro) we could use nuclear to eliminate oil. If we have to switch to coal for a while. We also have incredible natural gas reserves off our Atlantic coast the greenies won't let us tap.
As for nuclear fusion, we might have it in 3 years, 30 years or maybe not for 300 years. We need to proceed as if it won't come and use fission.
Cutting back on consumption doesn't have to mean "devastating the economy", it just means making every energy related aspect of our lives as efficient as possible, there's so much that can be done cheaply with regards to energy that makes energy consumption more efficient, cuts down on consumption and cuts down your costs and environmental impact, it's insane that we aren't doing everything we can.