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| The reactor plant under construction at Kudankulam |
Do you know without whom the world would be better? My answer to this question would be environmental activists. These peculiar breed of humans do not
believe in letting the system work. Though they often work for environmental causes but most of the time their work is not inspired by belief in
cause rather is a search for importance in a world which can run perfectly well
without them. Their plan of action consists of finding anything worth protesting on and then misleading the innocent to join their madness. I am frustrated by their acts of hypocrisy especially when it
comes down to energy.
These activists are the people who fill in our books with environmental need for non exhaustible resources; they tell us how the potential of our Himalayan Rivers are yet to be tapped. Then the go and start the Tehri dam agitation, the Narmada bachao movement, and the Save Ganga campaigns. I do believe that they are justified in their fears about the environmental costs of the projects and the resettlement of people but is it something that should come at the cost of national development?
Yes wildlife was lost when Tehri dam was
constructed but then read about Itaipu and find out how little is the loss when
compared to the Brazilian project. Still not ready to bear the environmental cost? All
right maybe we will switch to some other form of energy with less environmental
impact. Well I think even the government would agree... but hey do the activists
agree? News flash: no they don’t and we have a Kudankulam at hand. This time
they protest over the risk of an accident, a Fukushima or Chernobyl!
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| Protesters outside the Kudankulam project site |
Resources Problems
Hydro power Loss
of wildlife, displacement of mass population, safety of dams.
Thermal power Air
pollution, depletion of coal, health issues.
Nuclear power Nuclear safety, waste disposal problems.
Wind energy Now
this one is interesting. Apparently looking at the shadow cast by the fan of a
windmill for a long time can drive people crazy. The bird and bat death, and a mysterious health problems termed wind-turbine syndrome also occur due
to windmills.
Solar energy Solar panels consist of toxic materials, electronic waste disposal problems, not to mention the huge cost-efficiency deficit.
Geothermal energy As of
now not sufficient to run a country. Also the technology is still far away in a
land not known to man.
Tidal energy Anchors
destroy ocean bed ecosystems, disrupt fish migration routes, also there are limited places to
install such projects.
Bio-gas Methane
is a very high grade green house gas. There are safety concerns and limited
production issues and if you are seriously thinking of running industries on bio-gas then imagine the number of cattle required to generate so much of feces.
Conclusion: If environmentalists had their
way we would be living in dark ages. I understand all your concerns but you
need to understand mine. We have to get rid of our dependence on coal and we
need hydro electricity and nuclear electricity to fill in the gap. Then we may
phase in other forms of energy production once problems related with them are
sorted out. Even the microphones that you use to shout slogans against the
government require electricity (not to mention they cause noise pollution). So
either live in a house without any electric appliances or stop misleading the people and cut the crap!
Please do not mind the informal use of language.
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