Thorium: safe nuclear power?
By Wei Seng
So near on the periodic table, but so different in terms of safety?
In an article published in Today on March 22, produced from an article in The Telegraph, the writer Ambrose Evans-Pritchard asserts that safe nuclear does exist, in the form of thorium, and this comes from nowhere other than China, the country which supposedly is not very unenvironmentally friendly and has lax safety standards.
The article exhalts the benefits of thorium-based nuclear reactors in a backdrop of the escalation of global demand for power, especially in rising developing countries India and China. I was initially a bit skeptical about reading this article because of my reservations about China and how it sometimes may have the tendency to exaggerate its scientific discoveries. But assuming that the writer in The Telegraph did his factchecking correctly, thorium does have a multitide of benefits over uranium from its abundance all the way to the reactions in the power generation process.
If thorium really rises to the challenge as promised, perhaps the world will heave a sigh of relief, that nuclear disasters such as Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and the recent Fukushima incident would really be a thing of the past.
For those who are interested, this article explains in more scientific detail how thorium is better than uranium, a good read if you wish to know a bit more about the nuclear industry.
Doing a Google on thorium seems to yield quite a lot of promising articles. So is the hype really justified? Perhaps we have to adopt a wait-and-see attitude.
The perils of plastic on the poor
By Wei Seng
Not only damaging to the river
I have been so busy with work and other things that I have not had much time to write here. I have found some interesting articles that I wish to write about, but for now I'll offer a TED video on the "economic injustice of plastic".
It's an interesting perspective about how plastic affects the poor people disproportionately. His introduction, about how it might have been better that the oil spill in the Gulf happened rather than have the oil be used to contribute to global warming, creating plastic and so on, is quite controversial though. Honestly, both options are actually non-options, but if that makes you sit up and continue listening to the talk then I guess such an introduction works.
The video does not provide that much details or elaboration but at least it enlightens you and makes you aware of more perils of plastic besides the environment and wildlife.
Time to adapt to climate change
By Wei Seng
Get used to this, and more
I would first like to apologise for having not been posting here for a very long time. Just as students have gone on a hiatus for the school holidays, so have I, winding down from my Full-time National Service commitments and celebrating my new-found freedom. It seems apt for me to be writing on Christmas Day, for this would be a nice Christmas gift to the readers of ERPZ.net. But it's not quite a bright, cheery article: it was from last month, but the contents of the article will apply to us for a very long time to come.
The Economist, in its November 27 edition, writes about "facing the consequences" of climate change because, by now, "global action is not going to stop climate change" - i.e. it is too late and too difficult to brake or reverse climate change. The best course of action now, according to The Economist, is to prepare to adapt.
I am hoping that even in the midst of the school holidays readers will take time to read this article if you have yet to do so, because it is quite a pertinent and important article. The article may indicate a shift in perceptions: that the world needs to move on and beyond its current stance - reduce carbon emissions immediately, but at the same time start work to adapt the populace and the environment to climate change.
More challenges lie ahead. If it was difficult enough to clamp down on carbon emissions, it would be even more difficult to allocate billions of dollars to mitigate the effects of climate change. Cutting carbon emissions might entail sacrificing economic growth, and now more money has to be spent to adapt to climate change. It will be ever more difficult to find money for the rich countries now affected by the debt crisis, not to mention the poor countries that never had much money in the first place. It is also difficult to sell the message that it is too late to salvage the situation, after all it is easier to sell hope to the electorate than gloom and doom.
Green – not just the colour of uniforms?
By Wei Seng
For the safety of my fellow soldiers
Finally, being green in the military is not just about wearing your uniform. At least in the US that is.
According to this The New York Times article from last month, the US military, recognising that its efforts in Afghanistan are being sabotaged as insurgents target fuel supply lines for energy-hungry camps and operations, is turning towards renewable energy to supply its operations. "Senior commanders have come to see overdependence on fossil fuel as a big liability", and I am glad that renewable energy has managed to find uses beyond just being green and environmentally-friendly. Being green is useful not just in peacetime but also in times of crisis and war. Perhaps it is not quite accurate to say the US Army wears green in Afghanistan because their desert operations mean they wear a brown uniform, but still it is good to have green ideals.
Now that my time in the Army (full-time, that is) is coming to an end, I must say that from my observations in general the people and the organisation need to think in more environmentally-friendly terms. Even facilities such as recycling bins or rainwater collection would be useful and not interupt with operational capabilities. Green should not only just be the colour of uniforms but also be the colour of your ideas and the way you do things.
The Story of Electronics
By Wei Seng
Why does repair cost more than buying something brand new?
Annie Leonard, of The Story of Stuff fame, has come up with a sequel to her famous environmental video series titled The Story of Electronics. In the same frank and informative yet bite-sized style, she discusses how designers of electronics today "design for the dump", which has disastrous consequences for the workers, the users as well as the environment as a whole. And she did not even talk about how the constant demand for electronics (that break down easily and demand replacing every so often) saps the Earth (often in developing countries) of precious resources.
If you have been an ardent fan of her videos, just like me, you will want to watch this video and spread the word. Even if you do not feel for the damage to the environment from toxic electronic products and their waste, at least you should be able to feel the ever-expanding hole in your pocket whenever you shell out money to buy new electronics when your previous one breaks down in barely a year. For those new to The Story of Stuff, go watch the original 20-minute video that started it all.
Going green in college in the US
By Wei Seng
Time to lead a green lifestyle in school!
Now that Kevin is happily in London at his dream school London School of Economics studying his dream subject Economics, I am left here in Singapore writing (hopefully) from an Asian perspective. But I do dream of going to the Americas (and by this I mean North America) to study some day, perhaps for a Masters degree. And with this, I introduce a compilation of articles in The Daily Green that feature green universities in the US and how one can go green in college. No doubt the features are very much for an American audience, but nevertheless for those interested in studying in the US or who want to green their college life, this feature will be useful.
Articles that are featured include the greenest universities in the US, how universities are going green, the best environmental studies programs as well as potential green jobs in the US. For those unsure about whether to take up environmental studies in the US, this website is a good starter.
Bananas to go BANANA
By Wei Seng
Build Absolutely No wind farm Anywhere Near Anyone?
What's all this banana talk today? BANANA is acronym for Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone, according to Jim DiPeso of The Daily Green, and he claims that it is "there is no such place as 'Somewhere Else'" when it comes to where to build "unsightly offshore wind turbines, that scary nuclear waste disposal site, those gigantic solar mirrors, those ugly power lines". This kind of thinking, referred to as BANANA thinking, is certainly bananas in today's world where there is a looming environmental crisis and something needs to be done to tackle this head-on.
Certainly, we want cheap power supply, we want reliable power supply, we might even want green power supply. But some people want all that without anything ugly associated with creating these conditions in their backyard. Wind turbines might provide reliable energy, but people just dont want them in their backyards as it blights the scenery. There certainly are other issues of genuine concern to citing wind turbines or nuclear waste depositories in their backyard, but really, if not here, then where?
How then, do we encourage people to drop that BANANA thinking? According to DiPeso, "a key is to ask citizens for their input early and often, and make a real effort to listen, even if the politicians and technical experts mutter to each other that those uneducated citizens are going on about non-issues". This will "build trust" and ensure that such initiatives are not seen as isolated from ground perceptions or just a top-down approach. Certainly no one wants a nuclear waste dumping site in their backyard, but are there advantages or is there some greater good out of it all? Locals need to be convinced, by the local and national government, that such sacrifices are worth it and meaningful.
Difficult questions to answer, difficult mindsets to change, but totally worth it if people can abandon the BANANA thinking and do their part for the environment.
Saving the ocean one cartoon at a time
By Wei Seng
How to use cartoons to spread the word
Recently TED.com has featured several videos related to the environment movement, which I have downloaded into my iPod for future viewing. But what caught my eye was this video by Sherman's Lagoon cartoonist Jim Toomey about his stories of the ocean illustrated through his main character Sherman the shark. Sherman's Lagoon is one of my favourite cartoons, not just because of how it has managed to be a vehicle for spreading the word about ocean conservation and other related topics, but also because it is cute and unrealistic (A talking shark? Contrast with Baby Blues, which more realistically portrays a family and the playful children in it) but still hilarious, refreshing (enough of life on land) and a distraction from the stress of life.
On board Mission Blue Voyage, a conference-at-sea that convenes scientists, policymakers and businessmen amongst others conceived to allow "several days of deliberation about the intertwined future of the ocean and humankind", Toomey shares his inspiration for drawing the life of a shark that is the equivalent of Homer Simpson in The Simpsons comedy, and how he uses his story-telling prowess to hit home the message about topics ranging from the plastic trash in the ocean (which I raised several months back in The Great Pacific Garbage Patch) to the finning of sharks for Asian tastebuds.
For the environmentalist, watch to gain inspiration about innovative ways of getting the message across.
Green Roofs
By Wei Seng
A classical example of a green roof from Fukuoka
I have been trying to find inspiration about what to write for ERPZ.net, but did not manage to find something that really moved me from The Economist, so I decided to go back to The Daily Green to search for some green inspiration. This time I feature a photoessay on green roofs.
My write-up in June about vertical gardening is related to the theme of green roofs, the difference being green roofs in general need not be just for food. It could serve other purposes such as cooling the surroundings (whether of the building it is grown on or the surrounding urban heat island), absorbing rainwater runoff during storms, shielding against pollutant particles or just beautifying the surroundings. Do click through the photo slideshow to see how pretty green roofs can be and yet serve additional environmental purposes. And note that these are found in America, despite being a place which environmentalists often claim to be very un-green. Certainly Singapore can learn some lessons in terms of green architecture from America.
The Story of Cosmetics
By Wei Seng
What really goes into my shampoo?
From the same producers of The Story of Stuff (as well as subsequent videos The Story of Cap & Trade and The Story of Bottled Water comes The Story of Cosmetics. I reviewed The Story of Cap & Trade in May and The Story of Stuff in February, and found both videos to be quite enlightening and entertaining, despite being a little one-sided and not as detailed as desirable. The Story of Cosmetics is a peek into another industry that we have contact with in our daily lives but have little idea as to how the essentials we use from this industry affect our lives. It attempts to highlight to us the amount of toxins in their products and how / why such practices can continue in today's world with heightened environmental and health consciousness.
For those who have never thought about what goes into your shampoo or lipstick, this is the introductory video for you to get yourself enlightened. This might not provide as much information as one would expect, but it would be enough to get one thinking (twice) about what one uses / puts on oneself, which would have achieved part of the goal of producing this video. If you get to lobbying and spreading the word about the atrocities, the other half of the goal would have been met.
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