It is an open secret that fossil
fuel industry finance climate change denier groups. This is off course understandable, as
scientists who say we need to eliminate fossil fuels to prevent climate change,
threaten the future of both the oil and coal industries. Now in theory Green activists are also
concerned about global warming and so we would assume they would be on the side
of the scientists who are predicting climate change and say we should stop
burning fossil fuels. But as the old saying goes, “actions speak louder than
words”. So although the Green movement
seem to be concerned about global warming, on the whole, their actions tell a
completely different story.
It is estimated that about 80% of
the world’s energy is produced by oil, coal and gas, all fossil fuels. The other 20% is mostly produced by nuclear
energy and hydro electric, both in which produce far less carbon emissions than
either oil or coal. Yet, the green movement will protest against both nuclear
energy and hydro electric but hardly ever against coal or oil burning power stations. This is a bit strange, when you think about
it, because the major cause of global warming is the burning of oil and coal
for power.
Hydro electric is a very green
energy, because once a dam and power station is built, it give off very little
carbon emissions. Yet green movements all over the world protest whenever a dam
is built. Now, it is true that
governments can be very insensitive in the way they build hydro electric
schemes. As many will build dams with
little concern about the villages and towns they flood. And even when governments try to give
compensation to the people, corruption means that they do not receive what is
due to them. The problem is that the
green activists seem to be more concern about getting the whole project
stopped, than making sure the people who are displaced, are properly
compensated. So even though hydro
electric is a green energy, we have the paradoxical situation where green
organizations are protesting against it.
Nuclear energy like hydro electric
also gives off very little carbon emissions.
Yet it would be fair to say nuclear power seems to be the green
movement’s number one target. Off course
what frightens the greens and the general public about nuclear energy is that
it give off radiation, but just how dangerous is atom radiation from nuclear
power stations? We can get some idea
from this from the 1986
accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in
Ukraine
This was the worse nuclear
accident that ever happened, and it was predicted then, that thousands if not
millions of people would die of radiation poisoning. Yet over 25 years after the accident there is
little proof that many people have died through this. After the accident governments all over the
world closed down their nuclear programs but with so few people since dying of
radiation from the Chernobyl Chernobyl
Unfortunately, people fear nuclear
radiation because of the many people who died of this in the A-bombs attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
If that is the case, why are not
green activists protesting against coal fired power stations? After all both coal and oil power stations are
burning fossil fuel and are the major contribution to global warming. The
answer could be, that it is unprofitable to do this.
Major green organizations like
Greenpeace claim they will never receive donations from corporations. The problem is, that it is so easy to get
around a rule like this. If any corporation wants to fund a green organization,
all it has to do is pay individuals, not directly connected to them, to do this
for them. So if a green organization was
to protest against a hydro electric scheme, or a nuclear power station, and
receive big donations when they do this.
Then they are greatly encouraged to continue to do this. They also find
that they also receive a lot of publicity in the media as well. But, on the other hand, if they was to
protest against a coal or oil fired power station and do not get any financial
support, or publicity from the media.
Then they will be discouraged from continuing with this.
It must be remembered that media
companies like TV and newspapers depend on advertisers for their finance, for
this reason they cannot afford to upset very large clients like the oil or coal
industries. So if the fossil fuel
companies want the media to make a big story out of a protest against nuclear
energy but not say anything about a protest against a coal or oil burning power
station, they will do their best to please their advertiser clients.
This is how major oil and coal
companies, can easy use their financial muscle to manipulate the media and
green organizations. From the point of
view of any fossil fuel company, it is good business to help and support any
green organization that protests against hydro electric or nuclear power,
because they are in direct competition against these forms of power. If governments all over the world started to
replace their coal and oil fired power stations with nuclear and hydro electric
power stations, it would be a major blow to oil and coal industries. It is true that green organizations do also
support renewable energy like wind and solar power, but these are not a problem
for the coal and oil industries, as they are too inefficient.
At first sight seeing so many wind farms and solar energy panels
on roofs suggest that governments are serious about tackling climate
change. What the public is not told is
that this is all a cynical public relations trick.
We are told that one windmill can power thousands of homes,
but what we are not told is that the majority of the electricity generated by
windmills and solar panels do not end up in the power grid. So why is this? The reason is that homes and industry want a
reliable source of energy, and the electricity generated from the wind and sun
is not dependable.
If we had a power grid run totally on wind farms, when the wind stops there will be no electricity, so we would be subjected to frequent power cuts. So to counter this, the power companies have a back up gas generators that come online when the wind dies. Unfortunately it takes some time to power up these generators, and so to make sure we don’t have power cuts, they keep these gas generators running all the time. The result is that as the wind turbines, generate electricity the back up power needed is also burning fossil fuel. So most of the benefits of wind farms are being lost, in keeping the back up generators going, so they can immediately cut in, when power is lost, so we do not get any power cuts. The same is also true of solar generation, where again back up power has to be ready if cloud blocks out the sun. Some green activists have suggested that we should put up with frequent power cuts, but if they did this, people and industry would begin to buy their own motors and generators, because this would be far more reliable than the power grid. These motors will be using fossil fuels like gas and petrol.
If we had a power grid run totally on wind farms, when the wind stops there will be no electricity, so we would be subjected to frequent power cuts. So to counter this, the power companies have a back up gas generators that come online when the wind dies. Unfortunately it takes some time to power up these generators, and so to make sure we don’t have power cuts, they keep these gas generators running all the time. The result is that as the wind turbines, generate electricity the back up power needed is also burning fossil fuel. So most of the benefits of wind farms are being lost, in keeping the back up generators going, so they can immediately cut in, when power is lost, so we do not get any power cuts. The same is also true of solar generation, where again back up power has to be ready if cloud blocks out the sun. Some green activists have suggested that we should put up with frequent power cuts, but if they did this, people and industry would begin to buy their own motors and generators, because this would be far more reliable than the power grid. These motors will be using fossil fuels like gas and petrol.
The only way renewable energy can be used, is to store the
electricity into gigantic batteries, or use the electricity they produce to
turn water into hydrogen and oxygen and then burn that as a fuel. This then allows renewable energy to be used
when it is convenient to the electrical grid it is supplying. The problem is that no-one seems to be
interested in trying to store the power from any renewable source and for this
reason it is useless.
So if renewable energy is very inefficient and there is
little effort in trying to make it useful by storing it’s energy, why do we
have so many wind farms and solar panels?
The reason seems to be that politicians and green activists can claim
they are serious about green energy, while at the same time coal and oil fired
power stations can continue to churn out greenhouse gases. This means that renewable energy has become
the fig-leaf that fossil fuel companies can hide behind.
This all means that the oil and coal industries can easy use
their financial power to control, the media, public opinion, politicians, and
green organizations. So it is, business
as usual, as the fossil fuel industry has a free ride to continue pump
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. While green activists, do their bidding
and attack hydro electric and nuclear energy and champion ineffective renewable
energy, and not look at the pollution given off by fossil fuels.
