Quote:
Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu
People DONT WANT FRACKING. Just read the local news.
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Unfortunately, that's the nub of the problem.
Essentially, the "Not In My Backyard" attitude.
Everyone thinks that Wind farms, Solar Farms and Nuclear would be good for power.
Nuclear would. Wind and Solar can be, but are limited by the weather and (to a large extent) the efficiency of the technology in use. Essentially, with no wind, a wind farm is a very large and expensive collection of ornaments. Without enough sun, a Solar farm if a very large and expensive collection of mirrors. I believe various companies are working on large scale power storage systems (essentially batteries large enough to power a small town), but these may not be any more environment friendly than coal (which is bad), as the chemicals and materials used will need to be replaced and are probably toxic.
The problem with Wind and Solar is that the farms are very large. A wind farm powerful enough to power even a small town would require several square miles of land, or sea. Space in the sea isn't a problem, if the town is relatively near the sea. Not too much good for (say) London, Birmingham or Manchester though.
As such, very few people want a wind or Solar farm near them.
Nuclear is another option, and probably the most energy efficient. It has the problem of waste disposal and also what to do if there is an accident. Any significant leakage is likely to kill a lot of people and animals, and also leave the area uninhabitable for decades.
Fracking is relatively efficient, doesn't require large areas of land or sea, but while in the event of an accident, isn't likely to leave large areas uninhabitable for decades, does have a question mark over it's safety.
Even Hydroelectric systems, while generally safe, are rumoured to have a massive negative impact on sea life.
So, bearing in mind we are going to need an increasing amount of electrical power, and coal/oil are not a good long term option (quite apart from the environment impact of burning them, we have limited supplies left on the planet), which power source would you chose?