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From: Free Thinking Doggie
Apocalypse Never.. Looks like an interesting read. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Apocalypse-Never-Environmental-Alarmism-Hurts/dp/0063001691/ref=pd_bxgy_d_sccl_1/260-1722586-9526555?pd_rd_w=awD3Z&content-id=amzn1.sym.ec630614-3f9e-4b7f-ba9a-fe89f8e4113f&pf_rd_p=ec630614-3f9e-4b7f-ba9a-fe89f8e4113f&pf_rd_r=6ZBZ8CSR38GFGRP2YVKF&pd_rd_wg=P6eHc&pd_rd_r=037ea475-989f-4ab7-9d6b-800b926ce4c9&pd_rd_i=0063001691&psc=1 From the comments: Central to much of what Shellenberger says in this book are the concepts of Energy Density and Power Density, and he keeps on referring to them time and again. Thus, the energy density of coal is twice that of wood, and the energy density of oil and especially uranium is many times higher than that of coal. The high energy density of uranium was one of the principal arguments used by the Secretary-General of The Uranium Institute - Terry Price, a nuclear physicist - to stress the unique advantages of nuclear power. The achievable power density of a solar farm is only 50 watts of electricity per square metre, whereas the power density of nuclear plants ranges up to 6000 watts per square metre. The power density gap between fossil and renewable energies leaves nuclear electriciy generation as the only commercially proven non-fossil high-power-density alternative. Indeed, nuclear power lies at the heart of Shellenberger's text, in which he comes to the rescue of the nuclear industry, which he says, quite rightly, is overall the cheapest, most reliable and safest form of electricity generation available to us, not solar and wind power - and will remain so - something that many of us have been saying for more than 30 years, based on our in-depth study and knowledge in that field. It is said that Shellenberger is a well-known lobbyist for the nuclear industry but so what? - as long as he's right (which he is on this occasion). The author also draws our attention to various political, business and funding scandals which have led to the abandonment of nuclear capacity, particularly in California.The book also examines the history and reasons for his courageous apostasy. One of the myths put out by the media and certain world celebrities, which Shellenberger dismisses in the book, is that the Amazon rainforest is the "Lungs of the World", a major source of the Earth's oxygen supply and a large carbon sink absorbing a quarter of the CO2 taken up by forests around the world every year. He quotes one IPCC Lead Author as saying "That's bull. There's no science behind that. The Amazon produces a lot of oxygen, but it uses the same amount of oxygen through respiration". This plant respiration is not generally something the layman is made aware of by the media and Climate Activists. Amazon plants consume about 60% of the oxygen they produce in respiration. Microbes, which break down the forest biomass, consume the other 40%. So the net contribution of the Amazon ecosystem to the world's oxygen is effectively zero. And all plant life stores carbon - not 25%, but rather 5%. This is just one of the myths, distortions and and exaggerations exposed by the author in his book. In the fascinating final chapter he focuses on the psychology and some of the pseudo-religious aspects of climate alarmism, as well as the mental damage it can cause, in a way which hasn't been attempted before to my knowledge. His bottom line is that the irresponsible exaggerations of the Malthusian Apocalyptic Environmentalists must cease. The fight back against them, particularly in the Third World, must be led by nuclear power, hydroelectricity, and, where necessary, by coal - and adaptation should play a big part. The book is very well researched and contains copious notes at the back. Of course, a lot of us, notably Ian Plimer, have been saying many of these things for the past two decades, but it is refreshing to hear them from another environmentalist who has come to see the light, as Patrick Moore did some years ago. This book deserves to be a runaway best seller, and I hope it will turn out that way.

Current Thread	Author	Time
Apocalypse Never.....[more]	Free Thinking Doggie	14:19:14

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