Global Warming Revisited
Over the past number of years we have seen examples of where numerous self interests have cast aspersions on the science of global warming.
Over the past forty years in experiment after experiment, in model after model, and in observation after observation the fact that we humans are heating up the world is an established fact.
There is something distinctly uncivilised even luddite about those suppliers of fossil fuels aided and abetted by their legions of apologists who deny global warming. I use the word luddite at its most abusive.
They broke their machinery.
If their view had prevailed anarchy would have reigned and the historical human processes which have led to democracy and the value of human life would have stalled. The modern day luddites are the group who deny global warming. Only these luddites do much worse. They collude one with the other to break the thing necessary for all life and that is a suitable atmosphere.
It is now a fact that no matter what we do the average global atmosphere temperature will rise by 2oC. Only this is an average, there will be no temperature rise at the equator, and there could be up to a rise of 7oC at the Poles.
Since the evolution of homosapiens some one hundred thousand years ago our species has lived in an atmosphere where the CO2 concentration was 280 parts per million by volume, it is now 450 and rising rapidly.
If we want to secure our future the current US per capita emission of 20 tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide will have to be reduced to 1 tonne at a maximum.
The current European per capita emission of 10 tonnes will have to be reduced to 1 tonne.
We have established very clearly that the market does not work when it comes to very long term ventures. For instance, perhaps the clearest example is nuclear power stations, they create a tail of heavily radio-active pollution products whose long term storage is never paid for by the customer. They are also largely uninsurable by anybody other than Government.
When faced with the greatest long term crisis of any era, i.e. global warming you can’t look to the market to find a solution. It has to be legislated for. The problem with legislation to date is that it hasn’t been sufficiently visionary.
Europe has to reach out into the North Sea, the North Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay as well as into the Sahara. America has to reach inwards to the Great Plains to imagine a solution that sees the infinite bounty of wind energy there distributed to the populated periphery.
Mainstream Renewable Power intends to revert with proposals for solutions to both these issues which will be dealt with in subsequent blogs. For now I would refer you to a lecture that I gave in London on 11th February where complete plans for the Supergrid are outlined.
