I live in Manitoba. THe bulk of my electricity comes from hydro. There are two
supplementary coal-fired plants that usually do not operate. Quebec
electricity comes almost entirely from hydro, although some of it is imported
from Labrador at cheap prices and then exported to New England states at much
higher prices.. Hydro power plants do not burn fossil fuels. Ontario as well
as France has considerable nuclear power.. I do not know how much electrical
power is produced worldwide through hydro but it must be substantial. In
Denmark over 10 percent of power is from wind. There is no reason why this
cannot be increased.
Global warming is likely to become more of the "in" crisis long before
fossil fuels run out.
In fact it could be argued that the sooner fossil fuels run out the better. By
the way there are huge deposits of hydragas crystals that could be developed
as a source of natural gas. Geothermal power is also an underdeveloped
resource in most areas. If oil prices go to 30 or 40 dollars a barrel
geothermal power would be economic even in areas such as Saskatchewan.
Scrub and quick-growing wood is also actually a good source of heat plus the
junk grows back very quickly releasing oxygen and using carbon dioxide. In
Sweden garbage is a source of heat for some urban centers. By the by, old
growth forests are the worst trees from the point of view of global warming.
We should cut them all down
and replant with quick growing trash trees that we could cut for pulp :)
The problem with global warming is that it is difficult if not impossible
to know if it is a long term trend or what its effects will be. Even if there
is global warming the effects are mixed and there are certainly no foolproof
models that would assure one of any unimaginable economic results, just that
there will be considerable changes with winners and losers. Of course you
could argue from a precautionary principle that action should be taken now
because changes may be abrupt, irreversible and disastrous. With global
warming the hydragas crystals on the floor of the Arctic Ocean may warm and
become instable producing one huge natural gas fart that destabilizes the
whole north of the Great White North and who knows what will happen then.
Cheers, Ken Hanly
Brad De Long wrote:
> >I don't understand. Is the YES meant to imply that electricity production
> >depends ultimately upon fossil fuels?
>
> Unless you live in the Pacific Northwest or France, the bulk of your
> electricity comes from power plants that burn fossil fuels...
