250
∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗
The issue of fracking and the environment, or perhaps the larger issue of fossil
energy and the environment has reached the point where decisions must be made.
Banning fracking is not the answer, because that isn’t the problem. Fossil energy is
the problem, and we have to move away from it into cleaner, more sustainable
energy. Natural gas from fracking can help with the transition, but the transition
must be made. Leadership from the top is essential.
If we wish to maintain a technological civilization, we need a carbon tax to make
fossil fuel more expensive, renewables more competitive, and provide a revenue
stream for CCS and DAC. Major research efforts should be focused on developing
the technology for EGS, SAGE, and new, safer and smaller nuclear designs that can
directly replace the burners in coal-fired and gas-fired power plants. The problem of
what to do with nuclear waste must be solved, at Yucca Mountain if possible given
the already huge investment, but if not there, somewhere.
If we continue with business as usual on the path we are following, within
50 years, or a century at the outside, we will have crossed a tipping point where the
habitability of the Earth for humanity and many other species may be questionable.
If we don’t solve the problems with fossil fuels and sustainable energy, the Earth
will solve it for us, most likely by driving us extinct as a species. A million years
from now, some creature will be looking at our fossilized remains in the rocks of the
Anthropocene and wondering how and why we let ourselves become extinct. A high
third quarter return on investment is not a good answer.
References
Bennett, B., Repacholi, M., & Carr, Z. (Eds.). (2006). Heath effects of the Chernobyl accident and
special health care programmes: Report of the UN Chernobyl forum expert group “health”
(167 p). Geneva: World Health Organization.
Day, W. C., Potter, C. J., Sweetkind, D. S., Dickerson, R. P., & San Juan, C. A. (1998). Bedrock
geologic map of the central block area, Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada: U.S. Geological
Survey IMAP 2601; two sheets plus pamphlet. https://doi.org/10.3133/i2601
Easterling, D., & Kunreuther, H. (1995). The Dilemma of siting a high-level nuclear waste repository. New York: Springer. 286 p.
Hamilton, L. H., & Scowcroft, B. (2012). Blue ribbon commission on America’s nuclear future.
Final report to U.S. Secretary of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC, 157 p.
http://brc.gov
IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). (2005). Thorium fuel cycle – Potential benefits and
challenges: Report IAEA-TECDOC-1450. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency. 113 p.
Kramer, D. (2020). Negative carbon dioxide emissions. Physics Today, 73(1), 45–51.
MacCormack, P. (2020). The Ahuman manifesto: Activism for the end of the Anthropocene.
London: Bloomsbury Academic. 224 p.
Markandya, A., & Wilkinson, P. (2007). Electricity generation and health. The Lancet, 370(9591),
979–990.
12 Moving into the Energy Future
∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗
The issue of fracking and the environment, or perhaps the larger issue of fossil
energy and the environment has reached the point where decisions must be made.
Banning fracking is not the answer, because that isn’t the problem. Fossil energy is
the problem, and we have to move away from it into cleaner, more sustainable
energy. Natural gas from fracking can help with the transition, but the transition
must be made. Leadership from the top is essential.
If we wish to maintain a technological civilization, we need a carbon tax to make
fossil fuel more expensive, renewables more competitive, and provide a revenue
stream for CCS and DAC. Major research efforts should be focused on developing
the technology for EGS, SAGE, and new, safer and smaller nuclear designs that can
directly replace the burners in coal-fired and gas-fired power plants. The problem of
what to do with nuclear waste must be solved, at Yucca Mountain if possible given
the already huge investment, but if not there, somewhere.
If we continue with business as usual on the path we are following, within
50 years, or a century at the outside, we will have crossed a tipping point where the
habitability of the Earth for humanity and many other species may be questionable.
If we don’t solve the problems with fossil fuels and sustainable energy, the Earth
will solve it for us, most likely by driving us extinct as a species. A million years
from now, some creature will be looking at our fossilized remains in the rocks of the
Anthropocene and wondering how and why we let ourselves become extinct. A high
third quarter return on investment is not a good answer.
References
Bennett, B., Repacholi, M., & Carr, Z. (Eds.). (2006). Heath effects of the Chernobyl accident and
special health care programmes: Report of the UN Chernobyl forum expert group “health”
(167 p). Geneva: World Health Organization.
Day, W. C., Potter, C. J., Sweetkind, D. S., Dickerson, R. P., & San Juan, C. A. (1998). Bedrock
geologic map of the central block area, Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada: U.S. Geological
Survey IMAP 2601; two sheets plus pamphlet. https://doi.org/10.3133/i2601
Easterling, D., & Kunreuther, H. (1995). The Dilemma of siting a high-level nuclear waste repository. New York: Springer. 286 p.
Hamilton, L. H., & Scowcroft, B. (2012). Blue ribbon commission on America’s nuclear future.
Final report to U.S. Secretary of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC, 157 p.
http://brc.gov
IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). (2005). Thorium fuel cycle – Potential benefits and
challenges: Report IAEA-TECDOC-1450. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency. 113 p.
Kramer, D. (2020). Negative carbon dioxide emissions. Physics Today, 73(1), 45–51.
MacCormack, P. (2020). The Ahuman manifesto: Activism for the end of the Anthropocene.
London: Bloomsbury Academic. 224 p.
Markandya, A., & Wilkinson, P. (2007). Electricity generation and health. The Lancet, 370(9591),
979–990.
12 Moving into the Energy Future