…Greenpeace offered me the chance of moving from one of the most conservative universities in the world to one of the most radical environmental groups.
I jumped at it.
Jeremy Leggett on his dilemma between teaching method of oil drilling and geology in general at the Royal School of Mines and his environmental conscience; The Carbon War.
Germany has started to phrase out all of their nuclear power plants. The process of eliminating nuclear power from the German energy equation is expected to be done by the year 2020. The Green Party in Germany meanwhile celebrates the victory.
Being a green, I can’t help but join in the celebration. However, I believe nuclear power will be useful for the movement against pollution. Of course the radioactive waste will be a sensitive issue to most greens as the half life of material used for fuel in nuclear power plant is anything but rapid. Yet, I believe the risk-reward relationship in nuclear power plant tends to sway to the reward area. Regardless of the risk of meltdown, nuclear provides a cleaner alternative to coal power plant. And by far, nuclear power plant is one of the most cost efficient options.
Chernobyl was a disaster but two decades later, the technology related to nuclear power plant safety and the standard of conduct have been improved. Also, safety precaution is better though admittedly a total guarantee against meltdown is nowhere to be seen. Still, there are thousands of such power plants in the world but the frequency of meltdown is low. The last accident was a leakage in Japan but it was successfully contained rather quickly.
Anyway, in any case, the greens are pushing towards renewable energy. The green energy is no doubt the best option in the long run. With almost unlimited fuel, we won’t have to worry about the diminishing resources anymore nor will we be worrying about fuel price fluctuation. Green energy promises a stable source of clean energy.
In spite of this, there seems to be some opposition to the growth of green energy, especially concerning wind energy. Wind energy is derived from giant wind turbine constructed in an open area (on land or over the water) where the wind velocity is sufficiently fast. And when I say giant, I really mean something as tall as the Big Ben in London; even my imagination is too limited to imagine the wingspan of the wind-motivated-motor’s fan.
This wind powered generator is commonly found in cluster called wind farms.
The main opponent to wind power is perhaps the preservationists, a subset of the greens. They argue that this wind farms are detrimental towards the general scene; it is unnatural to fill an open space with hundreds of wind turbines and it hinders tourism. Such case has emerged in the US east coast (Vermont, Massachusetts) and in the UK (especially Scotland).
I feel that particular argument is weak since it is better to fill up an unused open space with quiet turbines rather than having to suffer smog. Besides, like what the British Wind Energy Association said, these wind turbines are the modern counterpart of the old wind mills that are commonly found in the Netherlands – the existence of the turbines itself are tourist attraction.
On the other hand, based on Denmark’s report on wind energy, these wind turbines are unreliable since electricity stop flowing when the wind stops. As a result, Denmark, which is highly dependent on wind energy, needs to import electricity when the wind god decides to rest.
Whatever it is, I’ll support the wind energy industry and in general, the renewable energy industry because of its unlimited fuel and unpolluted waste.
p/s – another reason why you shouldn’t publicly make a diary online. Do it the traditional way – offline.
pp/s – The __earthinc has been upgraded. Just a minor upgrade as I am trying to comply to the standard XHTML 1.0 and proper CSS. So I guess I could only say it is at version 2.1.1. Also, this is site is now licensed. I haven’t read the full impact yet (bad) but yeah, it’s properly licensed. I could really sue you if you steal anything.
hook me up a new revolution,
cuz this one is a lie,
we sat around laughin and watched the last one die
p/s – an excerpt from The Star:
PAS and Parti Keadilan Nasional Youth handed over a 19-point memorandum to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi urging him, among others, to reinstate government aid to the people’s religious school and to reserve admission only for bumiputras to bumiputra institutions like the Mara junior science colleges, Mara skills institute and Giatmara centres.
I take back my words about “Keadilan oddly enough fights for some of my ideal”.
Life goes on. Everything seems to be as usual, at least for me despite the loss of two friends. The weather however doesn’t help a lot. It’s gloomy outside early in the morning. And right now, Ann Arbor is very foggy and visibility is estimated merely 100 meters. I could barely make out State St. from C-House.
I shouldn’t be affected by this tragedy but somehow, it’s depressing to acknowledge the fact that you’ve lost two persons that you know.
The Michigan students on the other hand are gearing up for the upcoming election. And it’s too early for me to make up my mind on which should receive my vote. The criteria meanwhile is set.
p/s – PAS has finally unveiled its plan for the establishment of an Islamic Federation of Malaysia after more than five years of saying it will do so. Strategically, PAS can say goodbye to the upcoming Malaysia’s general election though quite possibly they will retain Kelantan and Terengganu, at a reduced majority.
What is this pain that I feel?
Why must I suffer what I feel?
For it is not me who bleeds,
It’s not me who should be healed.