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Nuke crisis and falling oil supplies boost reign of dirty King Coal
April 9, 2011, Saturday
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NEARLY one month after the nuclear power plant in Fukushima was crippled by the tsunami, Japan is still trying to stabilize the reactors.
In fact, one of the few signs of the effectiveness of the containment effort for the past week seems to be the announcement Wednesday of a breakthrough in stopping highly radioactive water at one reactor from leaking into the sea.
This is not meant as criticism of the operator of the nuclear plant. Japan has been known for its preparedness for natural disasters, and their failures merely evince the vulnerability of best-laid human plans.
Growing skepticism about nuclear power is well justified.
The Japanese government's pledge to rethink its energy policy is a positive sign.
But as long as there is no fundamental change in our outlook on what is good life, our addiction to modern, electricity-driven conveniences will very soon outlast our fear.
Before long the argument will center on not whether existing nuclear piles should be decommissioned, but on how many more reactors are needed to sustain our greed.
As Kenneth S. Deffeyes observes in "Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert's Peak," geologist M. King Hubbert correctly predicted in 1956 that US oil production would top out in the early 1970s.
Since then oil production has been declining.
Extrapolating his results suggests that world oil production peaked in around 2005.
On Tuesday, benchmark West Texas Intermediate jumped as high as US$109 earlier in the trading session, the highest since September 2008.
Following the surges in crude oil prices, China raised oil prices at the pump on Thursday.
Which means some countries will continue air strikes in oil-rich Libya.
Commenting on the Gulf War, veteran journalist James Reston observed in his memoir "Deadline" (1991) that "It [the first Gulf War] made clear that the United States regarded the oilfields of the Middle East as vital to its security and would not permit them to come under the control of any hostile power."
But the oil from the Middle East and Africa is flowing fast, since the oil-guzzling Western powers, instead of looking beyond oil, are preaching their oil-based hedonism to every corner of the earth.
"When I was a geology undergraduate, a frequently heard phrase was, 'The present is the key to the past.' Now, as a retired professor, I hear, 'The present is the key to the future'," Deffeyes observes.
One way to be distracted from the dire uncertainties of the near future is to fantasize about clean energy.
We are witnessing a nuclear renaissance at home and abroad.
Deffeyes predicts in the book that public reluctance to use more nuclear power will change as shortages occur, and I predict that disaster in Japan is not going to change that.
Consideration about safety of nuclear waste disposal must give way to real-time craving for such amenities as air-conditioning, television, and neonlights.
Some forms of energy touted as clean and reliable turn out to be otherwise.
Ethanol and hydrogen are net energy losers that are neither clean, nor viable, according to the book. Ethanol, by turning grains into fuel and consuming land, also drives up global food prices.
Oil shale is an "organic-rich rock" that has never been heated sufficiently to produce petroleum. It's production is costly and the product is rich in sulfur.
There are other energy options that have been variously portrayed as clean, green, or futuristic.
Local dailies reported Thursday on government subsidized electric cars. The state and local government offer up to 100,000 yuan (US$15,000) against the purchase of a vehicle originally priced at 220,000 yuan.
So instead of improving the city's overworked, overloaded, and overstretched public transport, the municipal government deems it more pressing to sponsor motorized conveyance for privileged individuals.
Where will the electricity come from in the first place?
But a post-peak oil production world will first affect those least responsible for squandered resources.
Declining oil supplies poses the real danger of starvation in the Third World, due to shortage of mineral-based fertilizers.
The hype of technology and innovation all fails to address the real problem, that is human greed.
As the author summarizes, "I hate to say it, but we likely will be forced to choose either increased pollution from coal or doing without a significant portion of our present-day energy supply."
In fact, one of the few signs of the effectiveness of the containment effort for the past week seems to be the announcement Wednesday of a breakthrough in stopping highly radioactive water at one reactor from leaking into the sea.
This is not meant as criticism of the operator of the nuclear plant. Japan has been known for its preparedness for natural disasters, and their failures merely evince the vulnerability of best-laid human plans.
Growing skepticism about nuclear power is well justified.
The Japanese government's pledge to rethink its energy policy is a positive sign.
But as long as there is no fundamental change in our outlook on what is good life, our addiction to modern, electricity-driven conveniences will very soon outlast our fear.
Before long the argument will center on not whether existing nuclear piles should be decommissioned, but on how many more reactors are needed to sustain our greed.
As Kenneth S. Deffeyes observes in "Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert's Peak," geologist M. King Hubbert correctly predicted in 1956 that US oil production would top out in the early 1970s.
Since then oil production has been declining.
Extrapolating his results suggests that world oil production peaked in around 2005.
On Tuesday, benchmark West Texas Intermediate jumped as high as US$109 earlier in the trading session, the highest since September 2008.
Following the surges in crude oil prices, China raised oil prices at the pump on Thursday.
Which means some countries will continue air strikes in oil-rich Libya.
Commenting on the Gulf War, veteran journalist James Reston observed in his memoir "Deadline" (1991) that "It [the first Gulf War] made clear that the United States regarded the oilfields of the Middle East as vital to its security and would not permit them to come under the control of any hostile power."
But the oil from the Middle East and Africa is flowing fast, since the oil-guzzling Western powers, instead of looking beyond oil, are preaching their oil-based hedonism to every corner of the earth.
"When I was a geology undergraduate, a frequently heard phrase was, 'The present is the key to the past.' Now, as a retired professor, I hear, 'The present is the key to the future'," Deffeyes observes.
One way to be distracted from the dire uncertainties of the near future is to fantasize about clean energy.
We are witnessing a nuclear renaissance at home and abroad.
Deffeyes predicts in the book that public reluctance to use more nuclear power will change as shortages occur, and I predict that disaster in Japan is not going to change that.
Consideration about safety of nuclear waste disposal must give way to real-time craving for such amenities as air-conditioning, television, and neonlights.
Some forms of energy touted as clean and reliable turn out to be otherwise.
Ethanol and hydrogen are net energy losers that are neither clean, nor viable, according to the book. Ethanol, by turning grains into fuel and consuming land, also drives up global food prices.
Oil shale is an "organic-rich rock" that has never been heated sufficiently to produce petroleum. It's production is costly and the product is rich in sulfur.
There are other energy options that have been variously portrayed as clean, green, or futuristic.
Local dailies reported Thursday on government subsidized electric cars. The state and local government offer up to 100,000 yuan (US$15,000) against the purchase of a vehicle originally priced at 220,000 yuan.
So instead of improving the city's overworked, overloaded, and overstretched public transport, the municipal government deems it more pressing to sponsor motorized conveyance for privileged individuals.
Where will the electricity come from in the first place?
But a post-peak oil production world will first affect those least responsible for squandered resources.
Declining oil supplies poses the real danger of starvation in the Third World, due to shortage of mineral-based fertilizers.
The hype of technology and innovation all fails to address the real problem, that is human greed.
As the author summarizes, "I hate to say it, but we likely will be forced to choose either increased pollution from coal or doing without a significant portion of our present-day energy supply."
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