nuclear-news

Greenpeace energy report projects cheap, clean power — and more jobs |

Greenpeace energy report predicts cheap, lean power – and more jobs  Los Angeles Times March 11, 2009 “…………………… by 2050, the United States could sever ties with coal and nuclear power, draw nearly all its electricity from renewable sources and cut its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% –- all with existing technology and with a net gain of 14 million jobs to the domestic economy.
The report, commissioned by Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council and conducted by Germany’s equivalent of NASA, was released this morning at a press briefing in Washington. It is heavy on charts and supporting data and transparent on some key assumptions. And its sponsors call its findings “conservative.”

At its core, the report envisions a steep drop in the United States’ energy use, both in absolute terms and compared with International Energy Agency predictions — driven by strict efficiency standards. It also projects dramatic changes in the nation’s electricity mix, with wind and solar power mushrooming to replace coal, oil and nuclear sources that would gradually go offline.

The report includes some fairly stark trade-offs. More than 10 million coal-related jobs would disappear by 2050, it concludes, but they’d be more than replaced by 9 million efficiency-related jobs, 11 million solar-related jobs and 4 million wind-related jobs.

Because solar and wind plants don’t require recurring fuel costs to operate, the authors say, the long-term fuel savings would more than double the up-front investment needed to spur those changes. And they’re not counting what they call massive additional savings from reducing greenhouse gas emissions to avoid what many scientists warn could be catastrophic economic effects from global warming.

Greenpeace energy report projects cheap, clean power — and more jobs | Greenspace | Los Angeles Times

March 12, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized