The more things change the more they stay the same...
I've been working on a brief piece of research into greenwash; an interesting topic given how it highlights the extreme cognitive dissonance of our modern existence. This was thrown into sharp relief by the following articles I read over the last week:Wind energy to power UK by 2020, government says
If the government says so then I'm not going to hold my breath, though perhaps I should to help with the blowing. The Guardian article is claiming that the target could be up to 33 gigawatts of offshore wind energy. Up to. That's going to require a lot of investment but can be seen as a turn away from the nuclear option, where, given the ripe old age of Britain's reactors, a decision needs to be made soon.Big Oil lets the sun set on renewables
The upshot of this is that Shell has sold off most of its solar business. I doubt they'll be advertising this as heavily as their move into renewables.BP to pump billions into oil sands
They've decided that actually they aren't beyond petroleum and are going to sink a lot of money into environmental devastation in Canada.Russia forms state nuclear giant
Gazprom has got the oil and gas side of things stitched-up so why not do the same with nuclear? All civilian nuclear assets from mining, enrichment, design, construction and decommissioning will become part of one company.Advertising would have us believe that we're going to have a greener future, that alternatives and renewables are our best bet for our survival, that the big corporations are going to get right on this as it is a new business opportunity. The problem is that we need a lot of energy and we're all geared up for the dirty not the green kind. Alternatives will be explored as an option and government will make a big noise about it while lying about the rise in year-on-year emissions. Where there is money to be made the corporations and the society they power will continue to rely on expanding existing areas of production. While the price of oil rises ever higher previously uneconomic options, such as oil sands, will become viable whatever governments decide. Energy security is an important issue and although it will get mentioned I don't see the environmental impact being at the forefront of consideration.
If the government says so then I'm not going to hold my breath, though perhaps I should to help with the blowing. The Guardian article is claiming that the target could be up to 33 gigawatts of offshore wind energy. Up to. That's going to require a lot of investment but can be seen as a turn away from the nuclear option, where, given the ripe old age of Britain's reactors, a decision needs to be made soon.Big Oil lets the sun set on renewables
The upshot of this is that Shell has sold off most of its solar business. I doubt they'll be advertising this as heavily as their move into renewables.BP to pump billions into oil sands
They've decided that actually they aren't beyond petroleum and are going to sink a lot of money into environmental devastation in Canada.Russia forms state nuclear giant
Gazprom has got the oil and gas side of things stitched-up so why not do the same with nuclear? All civilian nuclear assets from mining, enrichment, design, construction and decommissioning will become part of one company.Advertising would have us believe that we're going to have a greener future, that alternatives and renewables are our best bet for our survival, that the big corporations are going to get right on this as it is a new business opportunity. The problem is that we need a lot of energy and we're all geared up for the dirty not the green kind. Alternatives will be explored as an option and government will make a big noise about it while lying about the rise in year-on-year emissions. Where there is money to be made the corporations and the society they power will continue to rely on expanding existing areas of production. While the price of oil rises ever higher previously uneconomic options, such as oil sands, will become viable whatever governments decide. Energy security is an important issue and although it will get mentioned I don't see the environmental impact being at the forefront of consideration.
