Is there such a thing as a safe energy source ? an oxymoron

Safe energy ? an oxymoron

Some of the assumptions and concepts around traditional fossil fuel energy systems have been that centralized production and control is preferred over distributed or localized generation, and that bigger scale is better for efficiency and effectiveness, most of which we take for granted  But as we scale up the use of each energy pathway, we start to see unintended consequences in the environment.

 

People talk about solar and wind as being clean, safe or consequence-free. They are not. Every energy pathway, as you scale up has some consequence (obvious or not ) on the environment, simply from the fact that you are creating some kind of change,  which in turn has short term or long term spin-offs. (McLuhan's Tetrad model states that all technology has 4 effects on culture-enhancement , obsolescence, retreival and flip or reversal)

 

Analysts and academics have long debated the question -what’s the best (or ideal or perfect) energy system to replace fossil fuels? Is it alternate fuels or Hydrogen based energy systems or even Helium-3, that might some day been mined on the moon (by around 2030-2050)  and be brought back to earth? This may in fact be the wrong approach or even the wrong question to ask.

 

Henry Ford II once mused: “''The economic and technological triumphs of the past few years have not solved as many problems as we thought they would, and, in fact, have brought us new problems we did not foresee.”

 

Back in 1982 A. Lovins concluded that the dominance of a single energy source and centralized power generation are highly susceptible to disruption ( think Quebec Ice storm or Hurricane Katrina or Ike), failure (remember the blackout from the electric power failure in the Northeastern and  Midwest States and part of Eastern Canada on August 14, 2003) or even sabotage (Nigerian militants who sabotaged their oil facilities recently), with severe consequences both economically and socially… “the resulting energy and insecurity are disasters waiting to happen”.

 

Many researchers and policy makers are starting to conclude that the best approach involves the diversification and localization of energy systems for sustainable development and energy security. As we see from our fossil-fuel-based energy system, the dominance of a single-energy system inevitably leads to excessive burden on, and eventually weakening, a particular aspect of the environment, and can cause environmental fatigue, failure (permanent damage) or even catastrophe if dominated for too long; thus it inevitably poses  health , environmental and security risks.  In fact, each energy system, including renewables and alternative fuels, has its own unique adverse impact on the environment, as dictated by the second law of thermodynamics. (see summary in table 1.0). Even 4th generation fast breeder nuclear reactors that use existing spent fuel rods as a fuel source could have unseen consequences down the road.

 

So instead of scaling up, maybe we have to look in the other direction? Maybe micro-scale energy generation (nano-scale, synthetic photosynthesis or microbial fuels cells) is the ultimate way to go? Will we eventually see a shift from Centralized Power Generation (CPG) to Personal Power Sources (PPS) just like we all shifted to the Personal Computer (PC) from the mainframe?

 

Resources

-Lovins, A.B., Lovins, L.H., 1982.  Brittle Power: Energy Strategy for National Security.  Brick House Publishing Co., Inc., Andover, MA, USA.

-Lovins, A., Lovins, L.H., 1983.  The fragility of domestic energy.  The Atlantic Monthly 118-125.

-Lovins, A.B., Lovins, L.H., 2002.  Small is Profitable: The Hidden Economic Benefits of Making Electrical Resources the Right Size.  Rocky Mountain Institute, Snowmass, CO.

Table 1.0 Energy sources and their potential negative impacts on environment ( adapted from Xianguo Li 2005)

Energy source/ carrier	Potential negative impact on environment
Fossil fuel	Air pollution, acid rain, ozone depletion, CO2 and global warming , drilling and rock fracturing can induce earthquakes and mud volcanos ( Lusi mud volcano in Indonesia has been spewing millions of liters of hot mud every day for two years straight, drowning entire villiges (30,000 homes so far) in mud lakes, now stretching 7 sq kms) also see New Scientist
Hydrogen (or boron powered cars etc)	Hydrogen leakage and excess water vapor (a GHG) could cause thermal and chemical changes in atmosphere, ozone depletion, influence on microorganisms in the soil and water, accelerated corrosion of man-made structures, excess water vapor could change local weather conditions
Wind	Landscape change, soil erosion, reduced air circulation and deterioration of local air quality, interference with radar & air turbulance threat to airplane safety, sudden pressure drops in turbine vortex kills bats which could lead to out of control insect populations and agriculture loss; some people living near wind farms are sensitive to vortex pressure drops
Solar	Landscape change, soil erosion, reduced solar irradiation for plants and vegetation, local weather changes
Hydro	Changes in local eco-systems and local weather conditions, social and cultural impact, induction of earthquakes
Geothermal	Landscape change, underground water resource, accelerated cooling of earth core
Tidal/wave	Landscape change, reduced water motion / circulation and deterioration of local water quality
Biofuels	May not be CO2 neutral, may release global warming gases like methane during the production of biofuels, landscape change, deterioration of soil productivity, GM organisms that produce biofuels may mutate to more dangerous forms
Nuclear	waste disposal, source for wmd
Nuclear 4th generation Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fast  or breeder reactors?	uses existing spent  nuclear fuel bundles as fuel source ? as yet unknown unintended consequences?

Resources:

- Diversification and localization of energy systems for sustainable development and energy security; Xianguo Li, Energy Policy, 33 (2005) 2237-2243

Walter Derzko