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High Risk Energy Sources

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The earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan raised new concerns about the risk of another nuclear reactor disaster.  The explosion of the FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT gives our citizens cause to re-examine the risk assumed by the public. At this writing, the full extent of the damage to the plant, the community, and the environment is unknown - it will take years.

At the same time concerns over the high risks associated with extracting natural gas and as noted in a Financial Times article is "energy that comes from the same place as our drinking water. Extracting it had better be safe. The political fault lines over hydraulic fracturing (hence the term fracking) have been easy to predict for anyone paying attention to the controversies over climate change and genetically modified organisms. France’s national assembly voted to ban fracking while in the US its been full steam ahead in 32 states. These are high risk alternative energy sources. 

 

Curated by mokiethecat

Energy: The Next 10 Years Really Matter by Alexander Van de Putte
Alexander Van de Putte, Senior Director and Operating Officer at PFC Energy International and a member of PFC Energy's Executive Committee discusses how givens and wildcards can affect our future global energy needs. He discusses how Givens, which are defined as: low uncertainty with high impact events, such as climate change, demographics and hydrocarbon supply will impact our ability to produce energy. Wildcards are defined as events which are low probability, huge impact, and must be seen to be logical and explainable. The two Wildcards he proposes are the BRINKS (Brazil, Russia, Iraq, Nigeria and Kazakhstan) and nuclear energy.

EarthSayer Alexaner Van de Putte

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