I've
never asked the BNC community for any financial contribution. There's
no tip jar on the site; indeed I happily fund the website costs out of
my pocket and give my time freely, because I think it's a worthwhile
pursuit. But now, I'd like to ask you to give a little, to a most worthy
cause that encapsulates all that
BraveNewClimate is about.
Ben
Heard, my friend, colleague and fellow environmentalist traveller on
the pro-nuclear, pro-full-decarbonisation road, has worked incredibly
hard on a collaboration to do some serious clean energy planning. In
this impressive 15,000 word report, Ben and his co-authors consider two
alternate energy solutions, a hybrid solar/wind renewable solution and
a reference nuclear solution, against the challenge of delivering the
same hypothetical energy task: the replacement of the Northern and
Playford Coal-Fired Power Stations in northern South Australia with
clean energy. The report compares these solutions against 13 holistic
sustainability and economic criteria. It's a terrific case study, the
lessons of which are applicable to decision makers far and wide.
As he says in his DSA post
here
, they wrote the report unpaid,
because it matters.
But if it's going to have real-world impact, it needs effective
publicity and wide distribution. This report must get into the hands of
lots of people. That is where you can come in. Please consider giving
a small donation to make it happen, even if it's only a few $$. Every little bit helps.
Although
the project has already received over half of the requested funds from
42 supporters, input has recently slowed to a trickle. As with most
crowdsourced funding requests, the early donations are relatively easy
to secure, whereas the 'long tail' is much tougher. It's the old
Pareto 80:20 principle
.
(4-page
PDF). It’s well written and engaging, and, having twice refereed the
whole report, I can confirm that it's also extremely rigorous.
Below are some additional words from Ben, written especially for the BNC audience.
--------------------
Zero Carbon Options - Launch the Report
Ben Heard
It’s
not an original concept, either for the pages of BNC or anything else.
We have all heard that the major hurdle nuclear power faces is social
acceptance.
However
after nearly two years of independent nuclear advocacy, I think I’m in a
position to nuance that a little. The key word is “social”. Acceptance,
per se, is not the issue.
I
have had a lot of conversations about nuclear power in the last two
years. I have written a lot of articles, and given a lot of
presentations. I have had many confidential meetings, taught many
classes, and landed a pretty convincing
debate victory. Along the way a few things have become very clear.
- Far,
far more people are essentially supportive of the deployment of nuclear
power in Australia than I originally believed. If this group is a
minority of the population, it is not a small minority. However for the
majority of these people the opinion is held quietly, mainly it seems
from a sense of futility
- Many, many people want to know more about nuclear power. They want information.
Whatever their view, it is not strongly held. Their opinions are in
play. These people range in age, gender, political leaning and general
walk of life but there are common reasons why they are seeking answers:
concerns about climate change and a search for a solution that is up to
the challenge
- A
huge number of people in what I would describe as positions of power or
influence in the political or business community, particularly in the
energy community, are strongly supportive of nuclear power. But they see
too much downside risk in either themselves or their organisation
standing by that position
The
“acceptance” of nuclear is everywhere. But except in rare and valuable
forums like Brave New Climate, it has not been socialised. It has not
been shared, voiced, and reinforced. It has not been widely stated,
restated, and stood by because of a reinforcing silence and, frankly,
fears of what other people think
.
Fear of how they will react. Nuclear suffers an appalling first mover
syndrome for those who feel they have something at stake, whether it is
friendships, votes, funding or customers.
That’s a deadlock we need to break. That’s why we wrote Zero Carbon Options.
When
Brown & Pang approached me for a collaboration in nuclear, two
things struck me. The first was the quality of their work. The second
was that they
did it. They did not wait for funding, or a buyer. They wrote a report Australia needed on
nuclear workforce requirements
because it needed to be done.
We
agreed on something else that needed to be done. Something so simple
it’s weird that it hadn’t been done before: a straight-up comparison of
how two zero-carbon options would perform against an identical,
precisely defined task: the replacement of actual coal-fired baseload in
South Australia. Could there be a clearer, more tangible, more relevant
way to demonstrate the essential role of nuclear power than such a
comparison?
Six-months,
15,000 words, dozens of drafts and two rounds of expert review later,
the report is finished. It is clear, easy to follow and well-structured.
It is well researched and comprehensive. It will look outstanding, and
it offers this unique comparison of options into the public
conversation. As this article goes live it is in the safe hands of Brown
& Pang for graphic design, and I am preparing to launch it. That,
we hope, is where you come in.
.
The
launch will be held in Adelaide on Wednesday 5 December. Based
virtually on word of mouth (no media, no advertising) nearly 60 tickets
have been snapped up for this in the week since it was announced. We are
providing written invitations to every sitting member of the South
Australian parliament, as well as a full range of Federal and local
Government identities. We will be issuing media releases and
invitations, and several media opportunities are already lining up.
After I present the findings of the report, peer reviewers Professor
Barry Brook and author and BNC regular Mr Martin Nicholson will be
joined by myself and Professor Doug Boreham from Canada for a moderated
question-and-answer session. Attendees will receive a hard copy of the
report.
I know
we can use this report to take a big step toward socialising the
acceptance of nuclear power in Australia. But we can’t do it without
you. Let’s get the nuclear discussion right into the mainstream in 2013.
Please make a pledge and help us launch Zero Carbon Options.
Please visit our fundraising site and make a pledge by clicking on the image below.
———–
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