The current mantra is to ‘reduce greenhouse gas emissions more than 25 percent by 2020 — and more than 80 percent by 2050.’ While these attempts will curb our dependence on fossil fuels, doing ‘everything possible to promote alternative energy’ may also entail ‘financial, political, and technical pressures as well as time constraints that will force tough choices.’ While ‘hydrogen cars, cold fusion, and other speculative technologies’ are hip, cool, and of the moment’s need, they could rob the resources, in the form of subsidies, that could otherwise make possible those ‘ideas that are already achievable and cost-effective.’
“Renewable fuels” is as much a lobbying campaign as it is an otherwise sound investment. Heavily promoted and lobbied for, these renewable energy technologies have not been the great cure-all. Take the cases of corn ethanol in the US and biodiesel derived from palm oil, soybeans, and rapeseed in Europe. These have been touted to be the magic ticket that will take people away from their addiction to oil. The result of the rush into production of these so-called alternative fuels has shaken the balance of agricultural land use. Food production has been set aside for the purpose of growing crops for biofuels. Worse, growing these crops have led to deforestation.
Nuclear power has also been said to be a cure to our addiction to oil. It is also touted to be emissions-free, making it a ‘clean’ alternative to coal and natural gas. The argument has since eclipsed such global concerns as nuclear proliferation, devastating effect of nuclear accidents, possible terrorist attacks, and the lack of safe disposal sites for radioactive waste. Nuclear energy may not entirely be realizable because ‘there is no Western country with more than one nuclear plant under construction, and scores of existing plants will be scheduled for decommissioning in the coming decades, so there’s no way nuclear could make even a tiny dent in electricity emissions before 2020.’ Nuclear plants also entail massive costs to construct.
Via Foreign Policy
