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Replacing fossil fuels with alternative energy and nuclear power. If US spent even a fraction of the resources on that instead of maintaining its global militar

Replacing fossil fuels with alternative energy and nuclear power. If US spent even a fraction of the resources on that instead of maintaining its global military empire, the world would be in a far better place today.

hammyhavoc 4y ago
How quickly can nuclear be rolled out relative to the impact on the well-being of a billion people? And what does the mitigation of the existing problem look like assuming projected figures of x?
- yogthos 4y ago
  Here's the timeline for China to become carbon neutral https://www.visualcapitalist.com/chinas-energy-transition-in-5-charts/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/chinas-energy-transition-in... China will spend 400 billion to build at least 150 new nuclear plants https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-11-02/china-climate-goals-hinge-on-440-billion-nuclear-power-plan-to-rival-u-s?leadSource=uverify%20wall https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-11-02/china-cli... China currently has 24 nuclear power plants under active construction, with a combined power output of 26 gigawatts https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202304/27/WS6449c703a310b6054fad0096.html https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202304/27/WS6449c703a310b605... In addition, one in five solar panels installed worldwide last year were mounted on a Chinese roof, providing locally distributed power that supplements the grid https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-03-27/why-china-rooftop-solar-power-leads-world-on-clean-energy-capacity https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-03-27/why-china... China now dominates the world in solar power production https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-china-is-dominating-the-solar-industry/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-china-is-domi... This year, China has further widened the gap in renewable usage https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/china-widens-renewable-energy-supply-lead-with-wind-power-push-2023-03-01/ https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/china-widens-ren... This is what can be achieved when a country directs its resources towards infrastructure projects instead of imperialism.
  - hammyhavoc 4y ago
    But China is China and India is India. Climate-wise, they are not the same. Again: if India were to tick all the boxes, what are the projected figures on mitigating the existing problem versus projected worsening of the problem in the future if they don't? Are a significant number of them going to be able to afford the power generated? Are a significant number of them going to be able to afford the air conditioning units? How much does this help the problem of failed crops in terms of reversing climate change? India has 1.8m homeless people. Socioeconomics are going to play a part in this too, and the poor always cop for these problems the worst. Whichever way you cut it, this seems to be a huge humanitarian crisis brewing.
    - yogthos 4y ago
      I don't think it makes sense to look at this as China or India problem. This is a problem the entire human race faces. It's also important to note that people in India who are already affected by this crisis are the ones with least agency and who are the least responsible for it. Emissions are largely driven by people living in western countries who use stupendous amounts of energy and for whom the goods countries like India manufacture. The west moved much of its industry to the Global South, but the emissions from that industry are driven by demand that comes from western consumers. Seems to me that we need to look at this problem holistically, and all countries should be putting in at least as much effort as China to transition off fossil fuel usage. Given that this isn't actually happening, I agree that we're likely to see a massive humanitarian crisis in India. As these events become more frequent and affect increasing number of countries we'll see refugee crises, wars, and likely collapse of the global civilization. That's the most likely scenario given the track we're currently on.

hammyhavoc 4y ago

How quickly can nuclear be rolled out relative to the impact on the well-being of a billion people? And what does the mitigation of the existing problem look like assuming projected figures of x?

yogthos 4y ago
Here's the timeline for China to become carbon neutral https://www.visualcapitalist.com/chinas-energy-transition-in-5-charts/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/chinas-energy-transition-in... China will spend 400 billion to build at least 150 new nuclear plants https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-11-02/china-climate-goals-hinge-on-440-billion-nuclear-power-plan-to-rival-u-s?leadSource=uverify%20wall https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-11-02/china-cli... China currently has 24 nuclear power plants under active construction, with a combined power output of 26 gigawatts https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202304/27/WS6449c703a310b6054fad0096.html https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202304/27/WS6449c703a310b605... In addition, one in five solar panels installed worldwide last year were mounted on a Chinese roof, providing locally distributed power that supplements the grid https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-03-27/why-china-rooftop-solar-power-leads-world-on-clean-energy-capacity https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-03-27/why-china... China now dominates the world in solar power production https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-china-is-dominating-the-solar-industry/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-china-is-domi... This year, China has further widened the gap in renewable usage https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/china-widens-renewable-energy-supply-lead-with-wind-power-push-2023-03-01/ https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/china-widens-ren... This is what can be achieved when a country directs its resources towards infrastructure projects instead of imperialism.
- hammyhavoc 4y ago
  But China is China and India is India. Climate-wise, they are not the same. Again: if India were to tick all the boxes, what are the projected figures on mitigating the existing problem versus projected worsening of the problem in the future if they don't? Are a significant number of them going to be able to afford the power generated? Are a significant number of them going to be able to afford the air conditioning units? How much does this help the problem of failed crops in terms of reversing climate change? India has 1.8m homeless people. Socioeconomics are going to play a part in this too, and the poor always cop for these problems the worst. Whichever way you cut it, this seems to be a huge humanitarian crisis brewing.
  - yogthos 4y ago
    I don't think it makes sense to look at this as China or India problem. This is a problem the entire human race faces. It's also important to note that people in India who are already affected by this crisis are the ones with least agency and who are the least responsible for it. Emissions are largely driven by people living in western countries who use stupendous amounts of energy and for whom the goods countries like India manufacture. The west moved much of its industry to the Global South, but the emissions from that industry are driven by demand that comes from western consumers. Seems to me that we need to look at this problem holistically, and all countries should be putting in at least as much effort as China to transition off fossil fuel usage. Given that this isn't actually happening, I agree that we're likely to see a massive humanitarian crisis in India. As these events become more frequent and affect increasing number of countries we'll see refugee crises, wars, and likely collapse of the global civilization. That's the most likely scenario given the track we're currently on.