Aardvark Daily

Please visit the sponsor!

Kiwis to glow in the dark, courtesy of Oz?

Until recently, Kiwis probably felt pretty much immune to the looming global energy crisis.

Abundant hydro-power, fairly significant natural gas reserves, and mountains of coal meant that we were seldom short of a KW/hour or two.

However, that's changing pretty damned quickly, with every year bringing more fears of low hydro lakes and our commitment to they Kyoto Treaty meaning that it'll cost a bomb to burn more fossil-fuel.

So just what can we do to ensure our medium to long-term energy security?

Well we could build more hydro schemes but the environmental impact of such schemes (to say nothing of the gobsmackingly complex and protracted process of gaining the right permissions) makes this a difficult task.

What's more, with global warming seemingly a reality, there's no way of knowing for sure whether we'd simply end up with a whole lot of dry lakebeds rather than a constant stream of ergs.

We're still looking for more natural gas - but the drive to reduce carbon emissions means that even if found, fossil fuel will be an expensive option.

What about all that wind-power which blows past our doors every day? Surely the three months of strong winds we've just had could be harnessed by a long line of wind turbines?

Please visit the sponsor!

We could encourage the use of solar panels on our houses -- if it weren't for the huge capital costs involved and the fact that their energy production abilities are almost totally the opposite of our energy demand. They crank out good power at noon in mid-summer but nothing on those cold, dark winter nights when you really want some KWH on tap.

Could nuclear power be the solution? It sure seems that Australia is leaning that way.

The "dry isle" has bugger-all in the way of hydro resource available so tends to be far more reliant on fossil fuels for energy generation. As we all know, even if you ignore the greenhouse gas issue, there's only a finite amount of dino-juice in the ground and it's becoming increasingly expensive.

By comparison (with 40 percent of the world's usable uranium), our Aussie mates are sitting on an energy goldmine.

Should we cuddle-up to our cobbers across the ditch and bludge a bit of uranium to protect our own energy future? Or should we tough-it-out by remaining staunchly committed to our anti-nuclear stance?

Given that the prevailing winds are westerly, will our anti-nuclear stance matter one jot if one of the Aussie's reactors goes postal? Just look at how far the fallout from Chernobyl travelled in the wind.

Just what should we be doing and where will our energy come from in future?

Have your say on this...

Oh, and don't forget today's sci/tech news headlines

Rank This Aardvark Page

Change Font