Originally Posted by
Excargodog
I don’t know about the accuracy (or lack of same) of the global warming models. Frankly, I’m not sure ANYONE knows about the accuracy of the global warming models, but BASED on those global warming models, there is literally NOTHING that the US and Europe can do to offset the expansion of CO2 release from China’s burgeoning coal-fired energy industry. You could reduce the US and European countries industrial CO2 output to zero within five years and that still would not offset the CO2 output increase they are already planning on building over that time.
It’s sort of a heads I win, tails you lose sort of phenomenon mathematically. If the models are right and we do nothing we are screwed. If the models are right and we spend trillions giving it our best effort we are similarly screwed. Personally, I’m a big fan of modern design inherently safe modular nuclear power reactors. Make them here, fuel them, then sell them to China. That might actually be helpful.
A lot of what you say has validity. I like your idea of modular nuclear units going forward.
My one point of contention would be the inherent moral conundrum that you are alluding too. Just because we “think” it won’t make a difference, I feel it would. It paves the way through developing institutional knowledge for more efficient and robust networks in struggling nations. It starts the R&D process sooner, etc etc.
There are a lot of reasons to push for this, not just bury your head cause a bunch of selfish aholes on the other side of the planet don’t quite get the potential severity of this yet.
Lead by example, pave the way for the technology, go tii on Walmart and consume….done