Re: [greenyes] The environmental impacts of recycling according to the London Daily telegraph

[muna@no.address]

On 5 Mar 2003 at 14:08, Jeffrey Morris wrote:

Firstlt, thanx for that valuable info - shall download as mentioned.... however, I felt it 
imperative to clarify one point, so that there can be no misunderstanding....:

you wrote:
 Because close to 40% of electricity generation
> comes from nuclear and hydro, which have no greenhouse gas emissions,

ahem!

a simple life cycle analysis of uranium from mining to enrichment (particularly energy 
intensive) to long term waste storage and management, the GHG emissions are 
actually quite high - we have data from an Indian scientist that shows that, overall, the 
nuclear reactors in the US generated only about 20% of the total energy they 
consumed.... it is only during the actual generation phase that little or no GHG's are 
emitted.... this is a key argument of the nuclear industry, that we are having to 
constantly refute.......

further: it has been found that LARGE hydro (as opposed to micro-hydro) does 
generate large amounts of GHG's, most from the decomposition of plants and trees 
that were inundated by water, and , apparently also from algae that grows in / on the 
water - the volumes are significant...

it is clear, from all the research I have ever done or read, that the only sustainable 
energy souces are:
- wind
- solar thermal (both heat and electricity generation) I exclude PV, as the production 
process does produce some toxics..
- wave
- tidal (very steady indeed!)
- geo-thermal
- controlled, closed system bio-gas

and the big one, to replace fossil fuels with biodiesel - I am currently recommending 
biodiesel to improve air quality undergound in mines in our country... the arguments, 
that we cannot produce enough biodiesel to replace current demand, is easily 
countered by showing that a good public transport system, that includes hydrogen 
fuel cells, and batteries recharged by some of the above, would easily fill in the 
difference (of course, we must live sustainable lives too, and implementing these 
kinds of non-wasteful policies, helps to do just that)

that was my tuppence worth...

regards
Muna
PS the organics data when collated, will prove good, I am sure, but what about 
including other benefits, that may not be so obvious in overdeveloped countries, such 
as food security and nutrition? may be worth adding those as "added value" yes?