One more potential accident

The U.S. has just made an agreement where Japan will build the first nuclear power plant in the country in 30 years. Supposedly, according to Samuel Bodman (our energy secretary), Japan is capable of making the safest reactors.

I've always been against nuclear power. I think it might have something to do with my near-obsession with Chernobyl (who's anniversary is tomorrow - watch for my post), but I have a feeling it goes a lot further than that. I remember reading somewhere that there are thousands of near-accidents at U.S. plants that go unreported. It's not inconceivable that something catastrophic will happen due to one of these.

There's also no perfect way to get rid of nuclear waste, which sticks around for thousands and thousands of years. There's no telling what long-term affects the waste will ultimately have, but I can assure you it won't be good.

The main reason I'm against Nuclear power: It's unnecessary. The money our government is investing in this project could very well be invested instead in clean energy. We all know that clean energy is the way to go, but for one reason or another our leaders are ignoring it. It would be better for the US to go ahead and put all our resources into clean energy instead of being behind the times.

Ethanol

I'm happy that a lot of people, including tons of bloggers, are taking notice of ethanol. Especially that they're talking about how it isn't all it's cracked up to be.

The largest problem I see with ethanol is the contribution it'll have on world hunger and the environment. It would take huge swaths of land to produce the corn needed, and we're already far over what the limit should be with agricultural practices like factory farming. And because so much corn will be needed to meet our demands, poorer nations will suffer horribly. A lot of people that depend on cheap corn will have to either find something else to eat (which isn't easy) or starve to death.

Recently, people have started talking about how ethanol isn't actually as green as it's supposed to be. Here are two related articles: That's Fit and LiveScience.

What really worries me about ethanol is that the Bush administration and "fake" environmentalists will use it as a publicity deal. Instead of actually researching and studying how to make transportation and fuel more efficient, they will just jump on the bandwagon and go with what makes them look good. I hope more and more people will talk about ethanol in the future, and that it'll break into the mainstream.

Updated: Discovery has another article.

New way to generate clean energy

This is the M.A.R.S. Floating Wind Generator. According to Magenn's website, the advantages of this device are "global deployment, lower costs, better operational performance, and
greater environmental advantages". It's first official model will be shipped this year. One of these could be used to generate electricity for an entire town.

It always makes me sublimely happy when I see things like this. The possibilities for clean energy are endless; the only problem being the funding. Just think of what could be done with the money the government uses for oil and coal.

M.A.R.S. is going to be great, especially for developing nations. It would be much easier to install, cheaper, and there wouldn't be wars over it like there is over oil.

For more information, visit Magenn Power Inc.