This week the news has been full of environment stories. Whether it's yesterday's release of the new Energy Bill or the creation of new robo-fish searching the oceans for pollution.
Writing this blog in advance I don't know what the new Energy Bill will contain. From the rumours in the papers it looks like a big push for "clean" energy will result in a push for new nuclear power. I still can't make my mind up about nuclear, if it goes wrong it can go very wrong, but then conventional power stations are causing huge damage to our world too, it's just over a longer period and with consequences further in the future through climate change.
Renewables should be the answer but only if they have the same chances and are on a level playing field with other energy producers. Many are now saying that the new Energy Bill won't do that, and that through the new support system smaller companies (most often renewable suppliers) will be penalised because of the more complex system. I hope it doesn't but the government definitely doesn't look like its really pushing to encourage a boom in renewables, which would surely help grow the green economy they keen talking about.
In other news the north Spanish seas have a new inhabitant: the robo-fish. These 1.5m robots have been created by a consortium of universities and businesses and will measure the levels of pollutants in the seas. Able to hunt out sources of contamination and feed the information back to shore these autonomous machines are hoped to be the new front line in the war against water pollution. Ships will no longer be able to come into port, pollute and then carry on without a trace. The robots aren't cheap at around £20,000 each but as more are produced the cost will drop and this new project is still expected to reduce the cost of preventing and removing pollution from the seas.
Finally, this headline caught my attention too: Asian unicorn at risk of extinction from poaching, WWF warns. Click the link to find out more!
No comments:
Post a Comment