General Discussions

[Mav]

And now I'm terrified about battery bombs going off. Why hasn't the military thought of dropping second-hand phones on the enemy? That's the best recycling plan ever. Nuclear warheads are so old hat.

[Baggers]

I declare my ignorance on this subject, straight up, so the following may seem naive.

From my limited (very) knowledge on this it seems just about any electricity source brings with it it's own unique problems.

I've watched docos that are pro nuclear and others than are anti nuclear (attempting to educate myself. Ditto windfarms, solar and even tidal things!).

Seems that economics play a large and controlling role in all this... quick fixes with quick and continued financial returns (on corporate investment) seem to be big drivers.

Hydroelectric power has strong pros re emissions but even the large dams needed are problematic - setup costs, environmental impact, local community impact, climate vulnerabilities and even methane gas releases over time. But having lived in areas with a predominant hydroelectric power generation the improved air quality was palpable, though there may well have been other factors contributing to this ie, NZ, which has better than 50% hydro usage, is also small with plenty of wind to remove pollution... though some (polluted air) is blowing in now from other countries. I think that Tassies hydroelectric power accounts for more than three quarters of the states power and boy, the air quality there is noticeably cleaner.

We live in West Gippsland and even an hours drive to the city (Melb) delivers a difference in air quality that is noticeable.

Although perhaps very anecdotal, when I was at Franganstan High (1400 students) back in the late 60s/early 70s, students with asthma were an oddity, in fact you could have counted them on your own fingers! Now, apparently, almost 33% of young folks have asthma issues from mild, occasional... to chronic. 

[northernblue]

Baggers, you’re a Frankganistan escapee ?
This explains a lot… ?
??

[Mav]

Russian troops began leaving the Chernobyl nuclear plant after soldiers got “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches at the highly contaminated site, Ukraine’s state power company said Thursday as fighting raged on the outskirts of Kyiv and other fronts.

Energoatom gave no details on the condition of the troops or how many were affected. But it said the Russians had dug in in the forest inside the exclusion zone around the now-closed plant, the site in 1986 of the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

The troops “panicked at the first sign of illness,” which “showed up very quickly,” and began preparing to leave, Energoatom said.

Russian Troops Leave Chernobyl, Ukrainian Nuclear Operator Says, Huffpost.

[capcom]

The "pollution" of wind farms across the landscapes is unsightly and offensive.  Estimated that over a million birds are killed each year.  Go nuclear

[LP]

Russian Troops Leave Chernobyl, Ukrainian Nuclear Operator Says, Huffpost.

So it's true, dirt does protect you and burying the longer lived waste deep is a viable solution!

[LP]

And now I'm terrified about battery bombs going off. Why hasn't the military thought of dropping second-hand phones on the enemy? That's the best recycling plan ever. Nuclear warheads are so old hat.

It's easier to extract deadly poisons from your iOS or Android device, isotopes of lithium, beryllium, cadmium, rubidium and stick them in your leg with a hypodermic than it is to obtain polonium pellets for the same job!

Or I could just go around the house and collect up all the smoke detectors and send you an Americium microdot, job done!

Maybe just get Telstra to install a 5G tower in your backyard, why not take out eh whole neighbourhood just as a safe margin!

For for god sake, stay away from the banana traders!

[Mav]

So it's true, dirt does protect you and burying the longer lived waste deep is a viable solution!

Yes, it's wonderful to see the preschoolers playing in the parks in the vibrant and thriving Chernobyl suburbs.

[LP]

Yes, it's wonderful to see the preschoolers playing in the parks in the vibrant and thriving Chernobyl suburbs.

Of course because we commercially scatter nuclear waste from modern facilities on the ground like fertiliser, much the same way we spread silicate dusts from production of solar panels!

How many lithium battery fires have we had at those mega sites so far, have they manged to put them out yet, do you live downwind of one?

What about those self-combusting Tesla's, Prius or Leaf, has it happened in your neighbourhood yet and did you get evacuated or did breakfast taste faintly metallic?

By the way, have you noticed the almost complete absence of poisons or harm information from sites like Wikipedia relating to Lithium or lithium compounds? They used to be included in those pages but it seems it is no longer political or socially acceptable to report or discuss such things so they are removed. Don't talk about the war!

[LP]

Hydroelectric power has strong pros re emissions but even the large dams needed are problematic - setup costs, environmental impact, local community impact, climate vulnerabilities and even methane gas releases over time.

The methane is an issue, but it's an issue made even bigger by the Solar PV and Wind farm boosters, they aren't really for all low or no carbon solutions but for their green solution which is "All Good". It's a hypocrisy that we can all see, and the louder they become the more widely it is exposed.

The truth is of course that every large water basin, lakes, seas and oceans release methane. It is an even bigger problem when they don't because the gradual release is quite natural while the accumulation and sudden release can be devastating.

[member=61]Baggers[/member]‍ As you suggest there is no one solution, the minute they stop postulating their specific solution as the one and only best solution they may actually make some progress in getting people to listen and act. Many hands make light work, and the same applies to technological solutions.

I read an article last year about protestors opposing the mining of underwater resources for rare earths due to the potential release of methane, but apparently it's OK do so under permafrost in high northern latitudes when the mine is collecting rare earths for use in Chinese production of your solar PV or wind farm components. But if Apple or Samsung do it to provide high tech semiconductors for phones, TVs or perhaps on the side the odd pacemaker, then it's evil, the double standard is alarming.