tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post6583029327591071940..comments2024-03-29T09:14:53.583+00:00Comments on All That Is Solid ...: Why the Tories Want FrackingPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-58576164081090619542014-06-17T14:55:55.441+01:002014-06-17T14:55:55.441+01:00Surely it's fairly obvious why the Tories want...Surely it's fairly obvious why the Tories want fracking. The question is who's going to frack them.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07009879034507926661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-14528885559764687902014-06-11T21:12:55.165+01:002014-06-11T21:12:55.165+01:00Many thanks for all those links. They will come in...Many thanks for all those links. They will come in very handy.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-41017769586819081412014-06-10T15:48:57.208+01:002014-06-10T15:48:57.208+01:00Better check your spam filter. I sent a note inclu...Better check your spam filter. I sent a note including several links I thought relevant. Here is perhaps the most important again : http://www.texassharon.com/opithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01621946866211400380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-82173940846874482722014-06-10T15:47:12.972+01:002014-06-10T15:47:12.972+01:00"sensible nuclear development whose aim is to..."sensible nuclear development whose aim is to minimise the harm associated with it" I don't think people realize yet that Fukushima was no accident. Both GE design engineers and construction engineers resigned over their concerns about safety. There is a YouTube video exposing the design flaws of these turn key operations, which affect many more reactors than just the Japanese ones. It was only yesterday I ran across funding games by the World Bank causing such to be constructed in Manila. How many more there are I hesitate to think about. Plus the engineer on YouTube noted construction of US nuke plants on the Mississippi River emergency flood-way.<br />These old designs were based on the units used in nuclear submarines. In all of them, spent fuel had to be kept cooled in a pool of circulating water: failure of backup power meant radioactive things went bang.<br />Was that just oversight or incompetence ? From the United States Offering Iran Uranium Enrichment Technology to Suggestions for Creating Catastrophic Industrial Failure http://www.payvand.com/news/04/dec/1186.html<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6c_6HP7R7A<br />http://www.transcend.org/tms/2010/05/the-npt-and-the-nuclear-power-trap/<br />I have kept some notes on water warfare which seem to apply to such diverse things as dredging the Mississippi ( Contrary Brin - futurist David Brin - has more than one article of analysis http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2011/05/river-will-win.html ), effects of Hurricane Katrina and state of retaining structures ( Levees.org ), and construction of high dams in the Himalayas ( International Rivers has a report )<br />Nuclear notes http://oldephartte.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html<br />Since hydrofracking is your focus, it would be remiss not to include the link for the Texas blogger who has run an information nexus exposing frack dangers for years http://www.texassharon.com/opithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01621946866211400380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-21471668972167849262014-06-06T19:19:20.957+01:002014-06-06T19:19:20.957+01:00I'd like to add to those endorsing Monbiot, no...I'd like to add to those endorsing Monbiot, not just for his honest and principled stance on nuclear but for his thought in general. "Feral" in particular being an excellent book.<br /><br />I agree that fracking is an especially objectionable technology, and I think local communities should be given far more influence over the decisions, as they should on the almost as bad wind farms (note: I've never considered NIMBY a dirty word, and disagree with most of those of my tendency on this matter).<br /><br />It is simply a fantasy to say that any cheap, plentiful and environmentally friendly energy can be supplied. IMHO, the "lessons" of Fukusshima are heinously misapplied- and doing active harm to Germany, while France has rightly misunderstood the hysteria- and we should be looking towards a sensible nuclear development whose aim is to minimise the harm associated with it, especially in the past.<br /><br />I advise all and sundry to read Monbiot's blog and remain yours, etc.asquithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14246701347539264295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-32416250713150040492014-06-06T10:09:43.112+01:002014-06-06T10:09:43.112+01:00Very good demolition of the Tory's case for fr...Very good demolition of the Tory's case for fracking in the UK, thank you.<br /><br />With regards to the question of how to power Britain using renewables, may I recommend the Zero Carbon Britain report http://www.zerocarbonbritain.org/ which presents one possible scenario. <br /><br />Monbiot has become a flag-waver for new nuclear due to pressure-of-time concerns, though in his book Heat from a few years ago he also describes how to move the UK to sustainable energy without burning (in a fancy way) uranium instead of coal.<br /><br />The economic benefits of a massive push to go fully renewable can't be overstated, but unfortunately they are realised over the medium to long term which helps explain why none of the three major parties devote the attention they should to the subject.Corinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06420221077395144635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-49306867550847191222014-06-06T00:03:23.063+01:002014-06-06T00:03:23.063+01:00Even George Monbiot, who is pretty green, doesn...Even George Monbiot, who is pretty green, doesn't think renewables will be enough to avoid catastrophic climate change. He believes we need to invest in nuclear as well, specifically Integral Fast Reactors.<br /><br />Being a total layman I'm not qualified to judge.<br /><br />Another issue, suppose the Thatcher governments hadn't blown North Sea Oil revenues on tax cuts and mass unemployment to break the unions but rather built up a sovereign wealth fund like Norway. Maybe that might help to pay for new energy technology right now?<br /><br />Tories = triumph of short term greed over the long term national interest.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18097624792336619525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-61259711013061375902014-06-05T22:34:55.328+01:002014-06-05T22:34:55.328+01:00It'a completely unnecessary. Britain is a rene...It'a completely unnecessary. Britain is a renewables super power thanks to wave and wind. Where's the requisite investment? Where's the implementation?Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-68287178495608740372014-06-05T20:52:07.349+01:002014-06-05T20:52:07.349+01:00Tories frack off!
There's plenty of evidence ...Tories frack off!<br /><br />There's plenty of evidence that the US fracking boom is a con and yet another Wall Street bubble. I expect a lot of gullible investors will lose a lot of money when it pops.<br /><br />http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2013/08/well-and-truly-fracked.html<br /><br />http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2012/07/on-far-side-of-denial.html<br /><br /><br /> "The pundits and corporate flacks who have, for all practical purposes, gone barking mad about the world’s energy supply—I really don’t think any less forceful phrasing reflects the nature of these strident claims that scraping the bottom of the barrel, via fracking or otherwise, ought to be treated as proof that the barrel’s still full—are by and large associated with the two economic sectors, finance and petroleum, that are going to be clobbered first and hardest as the reality of peak oil sets in. The elephant’s in their living rooms; that’s why their shrill denials that elephants exist can be heard so clearly all through the neighborhood. As the elephant roams a little more widely, I suspect that the same frantic tone will travel with it, until finally we find ourselves on the far side of denial and the next phase starts."Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18097624792336619525noreply@blogger.com