Environmental protection is often not driven by rational environmental considerations but by populism and ideology. Why is no one talking about CO2-eating machines, nuclear power (safest, most reliable energy source), nuclear fusion, mini modular cheaper nuclear plants or hydroelectric power?
China and India plan to build 1,200 new coal-fired electric plants to provide quick, cheap electric power to their 3 billion people. China plans to be carbon-free by 2060, India by 2070. There are 35 nuclear reactors currently under construction in Asia. Another 220 are proposed. Across Europe, there are 15 nuclear reactors being built. Bill Gates makes a strong case for nuclear power to avoid a climate disaster, insisting that “it’s hard to foresee a future where we decarbonize our power grid affordably without using more nuclear power.” He is investing in nuclear reactors that can operate with spent fuel rods from old nuclear facilities.
There are more than 12 operational CO2-eating machines in the world. Switzerland just brought online an industrial scale version eating 900 tons of CO2 annually, the Iceland version 4,000 tons annually. Plans are in the works for large-scale facilities removing more than 1 million metric tons of CO2 from the air.
China is intensifying “decade-long efforts” to plant billions of trees. In Iraq, limited rain, dropping water levels, increasingly high temperatures have exacerbated desertification. They are following China’s answer. Ireland as well. The UN program REDD+ helps countries worldwide (Africa, Middle East, and South America) launch “large scale tree planting” to help mitigate desertification.
Heat, drought, and floods have always been with us. July 1942 Smethport had 34.5 inches of rain in one day, 30.6 inches in six hours, a world record. Max temp in July — 111 degrees in 1936 and no A/C. Our longest drought lasted 68 weeks from July 2001 to November 2002 The Susquehanna River has flooded 14 times since 1810 — flood waters 30 feet above flood level, affecting 16 states. Even the Native Americans who once lived in the area told of frequent floods.
We are focused on solar, wind and EVs. By 2050, the world's wind industry is expected to produce more than 47 million tons of blade waste “each year,” according to a University of Cambridge study. More than 90% of used solar panels end up in landfills today. EVs are plagued with spontaneous fires. “With a one-sided focus on sun, wind and natural gas, Germany has been maneuvered into an energy shortage.” Germany’s scientists demanded an immediate stop to the nuclear phase-out.
Technological advances and nature will solve the climate change problem if we invest in them.
Arthur Keller,
Beavertown
