Is nuclear energy or wind farms more acceptable?
What do you think is the best source of electricity for the future? Below are some Druidic opinions on the matter. If you would like to share your thoughts with us, send your anwsers to the ethical pages coordinator.
Cathi Yarow : Wind farms! Nuclear energy is never never more acceptable! Considering the carbon cost of extracitn ever-decreasing uranium, transport and decommissioning of radioactive materials, the carbon cost of building the nuclear plants and the whole option is out! Nick Griffiths-Haynes : The debate about nuclear power is back. But both the pro and anti arguments have been made many times before and far more eloquently than I ever could. The pro nuclear lobby argue that we need secure, reliable energy that doesn't produce CO2 and can meet the growing energy gap created by surging demand around the globe. Anti nuclear groups counter with the scarcity of uranium reserves, the increased risk of terrorist attack at nuclear installations, the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the problem of waste. Put simply, it comes down to what comes first; the human need (greed?) for more power to fuel our civilisations, or the Environment around us? What is a druid perspective on all of this? How does the philosophy and spirituality of druidry affect our thinking on this very sticky topic? How does it inform our approach to the debate? Read Nick's article.
Hrafn : Nuclear energy is something I am against for practical & ethical reasons. Leaving mountains of nuclear waste for future generations is an ethical no-no. The epitome of a 'couldn't give a damn about our children' stance. Windfarms - what a joke! Practically useless even in windy UK. The wind cannot be relied upon, so while despoil the countryside when you have to keep other means of power generation on the boil just in case the wind fails? But, I'm sure someone somewhere is getting rich on the damned things. More money into solar generation research & development please.
Phil Ryder : To answer that question ethically I would need to write a multi-volume book - that is how complicated the subject is. We not only need to consider the energy needs of the developed nations but the question of equality for the new rising economies. Also we have the environmental considerations. Finally there are the fiscal considerations - the global economy depends on a reliable fuel source - folk will kill and have killed to ensure they get what they need. Making a stab without knowing all the facts is, for me, unethical. The question itself though could be likened to asking "Is it more ethical to travel by aircraft or bicycle?" If you want to travel 50 miles or even 200 then a bike is a possibility - but further than that it ceases to be viable. Without putting arguments either way for nuclear power (members can have a look in the environment forum for my views) nuclear can deliver large scale electricity generation with pretty much 100% reliability. On the other hand wind can deliver relatively small scale generation with an efficiency of around 16%. There can be no comparison for me. The question must be do we need the power or is it greed? We could go on to question how ethical we would individually consider it to have an on line community consuming power - need or greed?
Joanne T : As far as wind farms go - the biggest problem is the harm to wildlife (bats, birds etc. but I do believe people are working on solutions to this now). It certainly feels less dangerous than nuclear but we still need to work on it.
