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UK to "get serious" About Renewable Energy

Posted by michael on from the don't-hold-your-breath dept.

Bob Dobbs writes "Tomorrow the UK government will announce (observer.co.uk) it's going to "get serious" about renewable energy; in the bleakest look at global warming so far Tony Blair will warn that extreme weather will wreak £150 billion worth of damage across Europe within a decade and the current situation is "unsustainable". On the bright side, it's mentioned that sustainable energy sources are less susceptible to terrorist attack."

2 of 436 comments (clear)

  1. Makes sense in so many ways by bigberk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Foreign oil funds dictators and terrorism.

    Renewable energy (wind, hydro, solar) creates local industries and reduces reliance on foreign energy sources.

    It makes political, economic, and ecological sense :)

  2. Bullshit by ikeleib · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Your assertion about solar energy is incorrect. Most solar panels are net energy producers after 5 years of their 30 year lifespan.

    Your assertion about wind energy is also incorrect. The time for most wind turbines to be net positive in energy is a few months. The area required for energy production for wind is much smaller than you say. If 6% of the total land in the US were cultivated for wind power (which doesn't exclude other uses, like ranching), the total energy production would be 1.5 times the total produced in the US today.

    The key to energy independance is not just switching sources, but using substantailly less energy. Using less energy is possible without making huge sacrifices, it just requires developing and building smarter.

    See:
    http://www.awea.org/faq/bal.html
    http://w ww.nrel.gov/wind/wind_potential.html