With the record-breaking hot summer we’ve experienced, worldwide high number of range fires, bleaching of coral reefs and melting ice at the poles, it’s become apparent to me that we need to stop and reverse the general warming of our planet as quickly as possible. One way to address this problem is to revise the way we produce and use energy.
One significant fact is that, despite what the fossil fuels folks will tell you, if we burn anything, be it oil, natural gas, coal or other combustible material, that will always result in more heat, CO2 and other greenhouse gasses being released into the environment than with renewable energy sources like wind, hydro and solar. That is, when mining, pumping, processing, any recycling scheme and delivering the product to the final burn site, more heat and harmful gasses will be released to the environment than with renewables.
Once the original equipment is built to collect renewable energy and transport it, the rest is free, as the sun supplies the fuel, and there is no further discharge of harmful energy or gasses to the environment.
So, with our cheezy legacy with nuclear energy, especially with the disposal of its wastes, we should save time and money and Utah’s Operation Gigawatt should go straight for a structure based upon renewables, as we have the room, so as to enjoy the cheapest and most reliable energy infrastructure, with reduced emissions for a long time in the future. Our fixed infrastructure will transition first, and the transportation infrastructure will gradually follow.
John Kennington, Cottonwood Heights