China Should Research New Tech to Replace Fossil Fuels

[Akasa]

I think I was talking in the future tense and you in the present tense

And I shudder at the thought that people are already thinking of hybrid military vehicles when hybrid civilian vehicles aren't even in full production and use yet.

 

[Akasa]

If China can invents some portable nuclear power generator, world problem will solve overnight. They have capacity to produce large scale with affordable price. Unlike western company, they don't care about patent or copyright.

Like the ones they put on submarines?

Yeah, only thing is, it's expensive and you don't want that thing to leak.

 

[Agni5000]

Like the ones they put on submarines?

Yeah, only thing is, it's expensive and you don't want that thing to leak.

Yeah, like petrol or disel generator.

 

[Solomon2]

China has huge coal reserves. Don't see why it should refrain from exploiting them.

HOWEVER, there is a strange trick involved here. From the weather models I've seen if China burns coal from smokestacks without employing pollution-control technology then China's harvests may be ruined and its citizens suffer from respiratory disease BUT global warming will be alleviated by all the sulfur dioxide emissions. If, however, China employs pollution-control technology city air will be breathable and crops robust, but global warming will accelerate and freakish weather ensue, threatening such key pieces of infrastructure as the Three Gorges Dam.

Difficult policy choices are ahead. And if you don't make those choices, that, too, is a choice. The old Chinese bureaucracy took the last route and messed up big time, deceiving emperors for its own benefit, leading to China's near-dismemberment. Does today's China have better habits than the old?

 

[no_name]

And I shudder at the thought that people are already thinking of hybrid military vehicles when hybrid civilian vehicles aren't even in full production and use yet.

So do I when people talk about 5, 7, super nuclear aircraft carriers when the first one is still fitting out.

It's time for them to start thinking about it, oil is not going to last more than another few decades. These kind of techs takes time to mature.

 

[casual]

China has huge coal reserves. Don't see why it should refrain from exploiting them.

HOWEVER, there is a strange trick involved here. From the weather models I've seen if China burns coal from smokestacks without employing pollution-control technology then China's harvests may be ruined and its citizens suffer from respiratory disease BUT global warming will be alleviated by all the sulfur dioxide emissions. If, however, China employs pollution-control technology city air will be breathable and crops robust, but global warming will accelerate and freakish weather ensue, threatening such key pieces of infrastructure as the Three Gorges Dam.

Difficult policy choices are ahead. And if you don't make those choices, that, too, is a choice. The old Chinese bureaucracy took the last route and messed up big time, deceiving emperors for its own benefit, leading to China's near-dismemberment. Does today's China have better habits than the old?

i would support nuclear over coal. i think china is moving in this direction.

 

[nzbrian]

China has beening doing these for years

 

[Solomon2]

i would support nuclear over coal. i think china is moving in this direction.

I don't think Chinese leaders are yet convinced that a Chinese bureaucracy can handle such a project safely and responsibly. Even if they use a proven design, the opportunities and incentives for corruption are great yet the ultimately penalty for doing so could be catastrophic.

 

[Splurgenxs]

Making renewable energy is one thing and developing something that will replace fossil fuels totally separate field of research.
The technology is mostly known ,the question is how do we compact and safely store and utilize for daily use?
Energy from water?....Solar?...Batteries?.... ,are Not efficient enough.
The rest of them too unstable and containment is the prevailing issue.

There can be a transition to Bio Fuel specifically for personal consumption aside from that i don't see anything replacing Fossil fuels at least for the next 30 years.

 

[siegecrossbow]

Nuclear fusion is the way to go... once we figure out how to do it effectively.

 

[gpit]

I don't think Chinese leaders are yet convinced that a Chinese bureaucracy can handle such a project safely and responsibly. Even if they use a proven design, the opportunities and incentives for corruption are great yet the ultimately penalty for doing so could be catastrophic.

What a vivid picture you've rendered!

It is how exactly democratic Japan's nuclear disaster was caused!

 

[Akasa]

So do I when people talk about 5, 7, super nuclear aircraft carriers when the first one is still fitting out.

It's time for them to start thinking about it, oil is not going to last more than another few decades. These kind of techs takes time to mature.

And it'll be even a greater disaster if technology like this, after we've put money into it, does not come out properly. It's better to walk first before we run.

 

[Solomon2]

It is how exactly democratic Japan's nuclear disaster was caused!

I wish that were true, but by my limited knowledge the GE Mark I reactors in Japan were built true and running at spec. Their back-up systems just weren't designed for such a severe earthquake plus tsunami. (U.S. Mark I's have some minor modifications that might have alleviated or prevented the situation reached in Japan, but if a New Madrid-strength earthquake hits I don't know what would happen...)