Islands mostly are depended on diesel generators for their electricity requirements which is considerably costlier than the normal coal,hydro,gas and nuclear forms of energy.Unless you are Saudi Arabia and can get oil at $4/barrel,the price of electricity from oil based energy sources is one of the costliest.Hawaii in USA pays around 30c/KwH for electricity because of the high cost of transporting and buying fossil fuels for its power plants.These islands have a huge incentive in moving towards renewable energy because it not only reduces costs,carbon emissions but also helps in energy security.Hawaii has installed a large number of wind farms,is building a big energy storage facility and promoting other alternative energy forms like solar as well.Hawaii Feed in Tariff has been implemented despite opposition by the utilities.
USA has been sorely lacking in the fight against Climate Change and Global Warming.Greenhouse Gas Emissions by the US has increased tremendously from 1990 the benchmark year when countries under Kyoto Protocol pledged to reduced their Carbon Emissions.However US has refused to do anything and has not even signed the Kyoto Protocol.The hopelessly rudderless leadership in the US has failed to pass any Clean Energy Laws like Cap and Trade ( not my favorite),Federal RPS etc.Some states have been showing proactive leadership like California despite massive opposition by the powerful oil and gas lobby (Valero,Koch Brothers).Their efforts are being stymied by the very rich who don’t care about global warming as they can easily use their money to mitigate any affect on them and the powerful fossil fuel lobby with their thinktank puppets.
India’s Civil Society has brought out the Jan Lokpal Bill that has been drafted has been drafted by eminent members of the civil society like Prashant Bhusan,Kiran Bedi,Lyngdoh and other. The bill proposes institution of the office of Lokpal at the federal level and Lok Akyukta at the state level. Jan Lokpal Bill is designed […]
The total installed nuclear generating capacity in the world is around 375 GW (WNA) with another 170 GW in planning g state and another 170 GW being proposed. The largest nuclear power is Europe with an installed capacity of 131 GW, ie. 34% of the total world capacity. The second largest country is the USA with around 27% of the world nuclear capacity. The installed capacity of USA is 101 GW. These figures are projected to accumulate to 144 GW & 136 GW respectively by the end of year 2035, according to the EIA. Japan & Russia are the 3rd & 4th in the list with an installed capacity of 49 GW & 23GW respectively.
The Jan LokPal Bill is supposed to be the answer to India’s massive endemic corruption which strikes daily in the form of a new scam or scandal.The government has proven to be woefully inadequate in taking on the corrupt politicians,bureaucrats and businessmen.This corrupt nexus has been repeatedly exposed and its structure exposed through the Nira Radia Tapes.The Indian administration has shamefully failed to take action only promising to do something without doing anything worthwhile.The Indian Judiciary has also castigated the government numerous times for its abject failure in the 2G Telecom Scam,Black Money Scandal etc.However the government instead of strengthening anti-corruption measures has only put obstacles in the way.Its no wonder when the committee meant to look after the Bill comprises of ministers tainted with a number of scams themselves.Anna Hazare has held a fast unto death to put pressure on the government to pass the draft bill but the Minister appear unconcerned.Here is a short summary and guide to the main points of the Jan LokPal Bill which IMHO deserves the support of the whole Indian civil society.
Nuclear Power has come under assualt in the aftermath of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident with Nuclear becoming a four letter word.However Nuclear Energy cannot be ignored becauses its benefits are unique in some applications and cannot be substituted by any other means.Nuclear Power also cannot be replaced in the short term from its most widely used application of generating Electricity.Note Nuclear Power accounts for almost 15% of the Global Electricity and in some countries is the major source of energy.For example France which has 80% of its power coming from Nuclear Fission,its impossible to think of shutting down nuclear plants like Germany which gets around 20%.Note even for USA which has the largest installed base of nuclear reactors shutting down almost 200 GW of Nuclear Capacity is quite unthinkable.Besides Nuclear Energy has massive uses in medical and other applications.This cannot be substituted by other means at all.For example its possible to replace Nuclear Electricity by other means like Solar,Wind even Coal and Gas though its costs will be astounding.But you can’t replace Nuclear Energy in Medical Applications like Scanning and X-Rays.Here is a list of the main uses of Nuclear Energy.