The Cost of Power: Is a Carbon Neutral Society Feasible?

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1 The Cost of Power: Is a Carbon Neutral Society Feasible?

2 We are often presented with economic cost of power graphs: how should we interpret these? What sorts of questions should we ask? Education = Learning how to question

3 First: What are the EXTERNALITIES THAT ARE NOT COUNTED? Total Cost of Coal Water contamination (and mitigation) Mercury, Arsenic Sulfur, Acid discharges Risk: environmental disasters Fly Ash: impoundment ponds 1 out of every 50 Kentuckians live near a fly ash impoundment! Low birth weights, cancer Bottom Line: Coal Benefit to Mining communities = 8.8 Billion Coal Cost to Mining Communities = $74.6 Billion (2005 dollars; using VSL Value of Statistical Life approach)

4 What are Externalities? Defined: A side effect or consequence of an industrial or commercial activity that affects other parties without this being reflected in the cost of the goods or services involved Externalities: Paid for by Tax Dollars Lower Quality of Life Death and Disease

5 Second, the Clothesline Paradox: What Cost Savings resulting from increased Conservation ARE NOT factored in as sources of economic growth

6 Aspects of a commodity chain: Each step affects the environment Consumer You are here And Here Taxpayer: You are here

7 $.28 additional

8 The cost of power Costs are shifted from you as consumer to you as taxpayer: costs become invisible to you. Biodiversity is destroyed, irrevocably destroyed, in the process Climate Refugees are produced Risk is increased Health is compromised Environments are destroyed, livelihoods, cultural heritage destroyed, for others: Appalachia what about justice? Costs are shifted to you as a taxpayer, or if you don t pay taxes, to your children in future generations Lastly, the subjective cost: to what degree to we come to value things based upon their out-of-pocket cost?

9 RISK and COST Externalities: The case of Nuclear Power March 11, 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami Sanriku Tsunami

10 Earth s Energy Unleashed As Tectonic Plates Shift Fifth largest recorded since 1900 and the biggest to hit Japan in 3 centuries Pacific plate moving at a speed of about 3 inches a year, slides under the Eurasian plate Motion of Pacific plate moving under the Eurasian plate caused massive uplift of the seafloor displacing water and causing 40-foottall tsunami.

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13 On March 11 tsunami spilled over some sea walls and embankments washing cars, houses, farm, factories before reversing directions and carrying them out to sea.

14 Impacts of the Quake and Tsunami Quake and tsunami claimed some 20,000 lives, destroyed more than 200,000 homes Damaged nuclear reactors, factories, disrupted supply chains, caused crippling power shortage. Nearly 23,000 hectares of farmland were flooded with salt water; more than 21,000 fishing boats lost. Caused about $210 billion in economic damage; world s costliest disaster.

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17 Radiation and Japan s Food Chain Radioactive cesium from damaged nuclear power plants contaminated beef, kicking off food scare. Some contaminated food including milk and spinach from Fukushima prefecture was caught before they reached store shelves Radioactive contamination in rice was found in Ibaraki prefecture, 90 miles south of Fukushima Tokyo s water supply contaminated with radiation

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19 Rice Contamination Fukushima, showered with radiation in March, 4 th largest rice-producing region in Japan Contamination triggered sales ban of harvested rice ( above 500 bequerels per kilogram) Cultivation banned in fields with soils above 5,000 bequerels of cesium per kilogram of soil.

20 Japan s decontamination efforts are focused mostly on the radionuclides caesium-134 and caesium-137, which have half-lives of two and 30 years respectively. Environment 360 Chemically similar to potassium, cesium accumulates mainly in the reproductive organs and muscles.

21 20 kilometer radius X 1ft of topsoil = Π (12.4) 2 /2 = 240 square miles = 6.7 billion cubic feet = 187 million cubic meters BUT, How to remove contamination without destroying the complex agrarian environment and destroying wildlife? Fukushima officials estimate only 31 million cubic meters will be removed, also power wash orchards, strip bark from trees But where to put it? Not to mention ocean contamination!!

22 So, what is the real cost of nuclear at Fukoshima??

23 What About Conservation?

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27 FIN

28 Cost of Conservation

29 Austin Energy s: Conservation Power Plant

30 Is Carbon Neutral Energy Possible?

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32 Biofuels: Require fossil Fuels in contemporary Global economy

33 Biodiversity Costs? How can these be measured? Should they be measured in economic terms? Should human life be valued in economic terms?

34 Nuclear Fuel Cycle Mining Uranium Separation into isotopes 99.27% of naturally Occurring Uranium U238 U 235 Breeder Reactor, Plutonium Production Conventional Power Production Weapons Radioactive Waste

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37 Uranium mining on indigenous lands

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40 Radioactive Waste: No Permanent Disposal Plan

41 Aspects of a footprint: We need to consider each step in the commodity chain to assess how our actions affect the environment Consumer In the contemporary world, are carbon neutral technologies possible?

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43 Aspects of a footprint: We need to consider each step in the commodity chain to assess how our actions affect the environment Consumer In the contemporary world, are carbon neutral technologies possible?

44 Cost of Conservation

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46 Nuclear Fuel Cycle Mining Uranium Separation into isotopes 99.27% of naturally Occurring Uranium U238 U 235 Breeder Reactor, Plutonium Production Conventional Power Production Weapons Radioactive Waste

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49 Uranium mining on indigenous lands

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52 Radioactive Waste: No Permanent Disposal Plan

53 Biofuels: Require fossil Fuels in contemporary Global economy

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