BraveNewClimate

Two countries, two paths, one crucial lesson learned

 

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Resources

Read this printable pamphlet (PDF file) on why nuclear power is needed to combat climate change. It’s double-sided and folds 3 ways. For more information on its development, read this.

In addition, print these posters and put them up where people can take notice of them! If you don’t understand them, or don’t believe them, read below…

Poster #1: If You’re Serious About Climate Change, Get Serious About Nuclear Power

Poster #2: Nuclear Power or Climate Change — You Choose

Poster #3: Nuclear Waste — It’s Not the Problem, It’s the Solution (also this one [less graphical])

Poster #4: Wind and Solar — Not Replacing Coal

Poster #5: Renewables or Nuclear — Which Means Action on Climate Change?

You can also order a t-shirt with these themes printed on the front at Climate Sanity.

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Frequently Asked Questions about climate change and sustainable energy

Climate change basics I – observations, causes and consequences

The longer we delay on the move away from fossil fuel energy sources, the more we will ‘lock in’ the build-up of long-lived greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.
To have a 50:50 chance of avoiding 2°C or more global warming, carbon emissions must be slashed by around 80% by 2050 and essentially eliminated in the few decades after that. It will take time to make this massive, worldwide transition to new energy sources. We have no time to lose!

READ ON…

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Climate change basics II – impacts on ice, rain and seas

The term “global warming” says it all – a heating of the atmosphere right across the world. But that does not mean that the warming, or its impacts, will be the same everywhere. Regional and local differences can cause things to be worse, or better, depending on where you are.

READ ON…

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Climate change basics III – environmental impacts and tipping points

It has been estimated that 20 to 60 per cent of species might become extinct in the next few centuries, if global warming of more than a few degrees occurs. Many thousands (perhaps millions) will be from tropical areas, about which we know very little. A clear lesson from the past is that the faster and more severe the rate of global change, the more devastating the biological consequences.

READ ON…

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Take real action on climate change – Part 1: The strategy

Our Primary Goal

Avert catastrophic climate change.

Our Secondary Goal: in pursuit of our primary goal

Remove the ban on nuclear power in Australia and include it as an assessable option in our climate change mitigation strategy.

Take Action

● Print out and sign our posters and petition (see below).

● With a permanent marker write your favorite pro-nuclear power slogan across your T-shirt. Wear it everywhere.

● Get rebellious, attend a climate rally carrying a pro-nuclear power placard.

● Speak up. Discuss nuclear power as a response to climate change with your friends, family and the annoyingly chatty passenger who keeps sitting next to you the train.

● Write letters to the newspaper, to your local MP or Minister for resources and energy, etc.

READ ON…

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Take real action on climate change – Part 2: The FAQ

Here, a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) on climate change and nuclear energy are answered.

These are quite deliberately not technical – you won’t find explanations of adiabatic lapse rates, actinide isotopes or Brayton cycle efficiency here! Nope… these are ‘big picture’ questions. I hope you find them stimulating, easy to understand, and appropriate to their target audience – the average ‘Joe’ and ‘Josephine’.

The 20 big questions

Q1. How urgent is it to address climate change?

Q2. Why do we need nuclear power? Won’t renewables provide our needs?

Q3. We need to act fast, aren’t renewables the fastest response?

Q4. Aren’t renewables the most affordable option?

Q5. What about storing excess energy for later use?

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READ ON…

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A checklist for renewable energy plans

Beyond Zero Emissions recently launched their Zero Carbon Australia 2020Stationary Energy Plan. It joins a growing list of renewable energy plans –Desertec, Greenpeace’s Energy [R]evolution, World Wildlife Fund Australia’s Clean Energy Future, Peter Seligman’s Australian Sustainable Energy, and others around the world.

The need to cut ourselves loose from our carbon based economy is urgent, and proponents of these plans are to be applauded. But, can they work? Many posts and comments at Brave New Climate have focussed on the hurdles facing large scale renewable power. Here I have tried to distill these points into a checklist to bear in mind when considering these plans. The list is followed by some brief exposition of each item. Some of these items refer to some Australian specifics, but similar questions will arise in other countries.

These items are not a set of pass/fail criteria, rather, they are prompts to ask “Did the plan address this point, and how?” The list is not exhaustive – many other questions could be raised, and hopefully will be in the comments. I have not really considered nuclear power in this list because I am not aware of similar comprehensive attempts to plan carbon free nuclear economies (perhaps there should be) – there would be questions, but unlike renewable energy, we have existence proofs that it can be done.

So, how does the plan check out?

0. The checklist

□ What is the emissions reduction target?

□ What is the budget for the plan?

□ How is the plan to be financed?

□ What is the cost of power if the plan is implemented?

□ What is the CO₂ avoidance cost ($/tCO₂ avoided)

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READ ON…