Triumphs of Renewable Energy: Kenya Calls for Urgent Action to Save Lake Victoria.

[NNadir]

NAIROBI (AFP) - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on Monday called for urgent action to save Lake Victoria, the world's second largest fresh water lake which is facing decline in water levels due to human activities.

The lake, which provides livelihoods for some 30 million people in the shoreline countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, has suffered a dramatic fall in water levels since 2003...

...Alarmed by the falling water levels, US green group International Rivers Network warned in a report last year that water levels had plummeted 1.2 metres (3.9 feet), bringing the lake to its lowest point since 1951...

...The report accused impoverished Uganda of secretly draining water from Lake Victoria to help maintain power for its electricity grid. Kampala has pledged to cut its water usage.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070611/sc_afp/environmenteafrica

[Eric J in MN]

1. What do you mean by, "Triumphs of Renewable Energy"? NT

NT

[phantom power]

2. He's referring to the fact that renewables are not solving the climate problem.

[jpak]

3. Unlike the "triumph" of nuclear power which is saving Lake Victoria

not

[NNadir]

4. Actually the great Kenyan Richard Leakey made a powerful appeal for nuclear energy.

I think he knows a hell of a lot more about the situation at Lake Victoria than you do.

Leakey's appeal, made in a BBC presentation entitled the "Selfish Green" was part of a panel discussion between him, Richard Dawkins, Jane Goodal, and David Attenborough.

The discussion can be viewed on line:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7Qk6rJIaD4&mode=related&search=

Africa is a place where humanity may hope that the expansion of nuclear energy will save a desperate population, a population that isn't quite capable of spending a few hundred thousands dollars to buy enough solar cell toys and hydrogen generators to fuel each McMansion.

African nations considering nuclear energy include South Africa (which already has nuclear energy), Nigeria, Morrocco, Egypt, Angola and maybe a few others I haven't heard about. One hopes that Kenya will be added to the list, and, given the destruction of Lake Victoria, one of humanity's environmental treasures, Uganda as well.

The world's largest (by a vast amount) source of renewable energy is hydroelectric energy. Hydroelectricty provides about 10 exajoules of energy and all of the other forms of renewable energy produce about 5 exajoules (thermal) and less than two exajoules of electricity. In the meantime world energy demand is 470 exajoules and rising.

People like to pretend that renewable energy has no external cost and no risk, but this is pure delusion. The world's largest energy disaster of all time was a renewable energy disaster and it involved hydroelectricity and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in a few hours.

Even if you don't give a rat's ass about that fact, I do.

[jpak]

5. Perhaps Richard Leakey could tell us all about the legacy of French uranium mining

in Africa.

Have the people of Niger or Gabon benefited from these operations???

(nope)

Do they have to deal with environmental hazards posed by these mines???

(yup)

And what about uranium mining in the Congo or Malawi - have they fared any better???

(nope)

Nuclear power had been a *raw deal* for much of Africa despite what the hobbyist crowd would have us think.

[NNadir]

6. Your pals in "nuclear phase out" Germany will burn South African coal in their new coal plants.

Don't pretend you give a rat's ass about African economic justice, because you don't.

But the new plants are a big business opportunity for Germany's four major energy providers, Vattenfall, RWE, E.on and EnBW. Coal imports from South Africa or Poland are relatively cheap and can be used to produce electricity and heat at a high profit. In this way, the companies intend to secure their dominant position on the German market for decades to come.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,472786,00.html

The Germans are buying Polish and South African coal because they don't want to pay German wages for German coal.

You couldn't give a rat's ass about the South African miners who will die firing up your "Green" pals in nuke phase out land, just like you don't give a rat's ass about the Nigerian oil that will fuel the tankers hauling that coal, or for that matter, the Nigerian oil that will power cars, trucks and diesel power plants in Maine.

Nuclear energy doesn't have to be perfect to be better than everything else. I personally am unimpressed by your willingness to whine endlessly about every single consequence of nuclear energy while you remain indifferent to that vastly larger segment of the world that suffers vast tragedy for fossil fuels.