Opinion
- Editorial- Commentary
Express
Editorial:
Facing
up to our energy issues
Editorial
We can assure Mr Eden Shand, whose letter to the
Express on December 4 focused on the country's
need to reduce greenhouse gas levels, that we are
more than sensitive to the validity of the per
capita argument. The total greenhouse gas argument
does have some validity as scientific consensus
points toward the absolute levels determining the
rate of global warming and climate change.
But at the same time we insist on repeating the
question-if everyone produced carbon dioxide into
the atmosphere at our rate of, say, 30 tonnes per
capita how will the planet's climate change? There
are over six billion souls on this abused planet.
And it's all very well for the Chairman of the
EMA to side with Mr Manning in emphasising the
fact that, when compared with the developed countries
and the larger continental developing economies
of China and India, our contribution to global
warming is trivial, even as he admits weakly that
somehow we as a nation have some sort of responsibility
in this matter.
As we have suggested, each country has its interests
and those in power put these first. If they do
otherwise there is always the threat of loss of
power and replacement with even more irresponsible
leadership that will continue to do everything
to placate the masses. If the present Government,
or for that matter any future government, does
reduce our consumption of petroleum and natural
gas, the public pain will be immense.
No one can deny that modern human society is immensely
dependent on energy, especially the energy of
non-renewable fossil resources and we expect
that we shall continue to do so for the foreseeable
future, even as so much of the energy is converted
into conspicuous consumption.
Mr Manning glibly speaks about scrubbing of air
emissions and sequestering carbon in forests. Yes,
they are both options. But removing carbon dioxide
from a smelter or steel mill or electricity generating
plant does only that. Where does it go? And is
the technology proven for retrofitting? And how
much carbon can we sequester in our existing forests
and those lands being reforested? At a conservative
100 tonnes per hectare per year, even as we harvest
our forests sustainably, locking up carbon in wood
products, it would take 300,000 hectares of forests
to become carbon neutral! Where?
But in welcoming Mr Manning's recognition of the
issue of global warming and climate change we are
only welcoming the possibility of some serious
national debate taking place on energy conservation,
alternative energy sources such as wind, solar
and ocean currents, as many others have suggested.
The recent statement by bpTT's CEO, Robert Riley,
regarding the future of gas production emphasises
the need for a serious examination of alternative
energy sources.
The
Trinidad Express is one of the most read newspapers
in Trinidad. Petroleumworld not necessarily share
these views.
Editor's
Note: This article was first publish in
Trinidad Express, Saturday, December 8th 2007.
Petroleumworld
reprint this article in the interest
of our readers.
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12/ 09/07
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