Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Beating swords into carbon credits
by Larry Geller
So what would encourage Obama and the Russians renew the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that expires December. 5? They could claim credit for reducing global warming. Read this snippet:
Warheads are no small part of America's nuclear power industry. Currently, 10 percent of American electricity is nuclear (compare that to 6 percent for hydro, or 3 percent for solar, biomass, wind and geothermal combined). A full 45 percent of that fuel comes from decommissioned Russian nukes whose cores have been converted into civilian reactor fuel -- at times Russian nukes have accounted for more than half. Comparatively, five percent of civilian fuel comes from decommissioned American bombs. [Popular Science, Old Soviet Warheads Fuel America's Nuclear Power Industry, 11/10/2009]
From the New York Times story on which this article may be based:
The program for dismantling and diluting the fuel cores of decommissioned Russian warheads — known informally as Megatons to Megawatts — is set to expire in 2013, just as the industry is trying to sell it forcefully as an alternative to coal-powered energy plants, which emit greenhouse gases.
Finding a substitute is a concern for utilities today because nuclear plants buy fuel three to five years in advance.
One potential new source is warheads that would become superfluous if the United States and Russia agree to new cuts under negotiations to renew the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expires on Dec. 5. [New York Times, Power for U.S. From Russia’s Old Nuclear Weapons, 11/10/2009]
Carbon credits and cap and trade are a pyramid trading scam that will be punitive to the basic economy and benefit mostly Wall Street. Don't get suckered into that carbon tax, cap and trade B.S. It's not the ideal solution. Something like HCEI is a much better paradigm.
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