Nuclear power: the alternatives

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Mention the word nuclear to an environmentalist and you'll either hear an eerie silence or see an expression of horror rapidly spread across their face. And, so it seems, partly for good reason. The question the large majority of ecologists and environmental consultants constantly ask when having spent time in the region is why nuclear when so many natural alternatives exist? It seems staggering to think that in an area where oil and gas are so prevalent, where the sun ferociously beats down for the large majority of the year and vast expanses of land are begging to turned into more than simply sand plains, that several Middle Eastern governments are considering ordering the construction of power plants.

Stephen Oehme, an environmental consultant and value management expert, is at the heart of the Middle East's largest environmental benchmarking project, the Palisades, a US$4bn luxury property development in Dubai.Oehme and his team are reviewing 20 initiatives throughout the project from a vacuum system for rubbish bags to transport and centralise waste, to water efficient household appliances to reduce energy consumption.

"The key is to implement these solutions and initiatives such as energy management and minimisation in the early design phase," says Oehme.

Barriers to achieving even further environmental success, however, still exist, but Oehme has faith in the property industry and believes it will step up to the green plate in the coming year.

"A lot of developers are not willing to reveal their plans for competitive reasons and because they have other priorities and primary selling points.

The primary drivers for the property industry are currently aesthetics and scale and prominence," he explains. "The environment counts as a secondary factor, but it will move up the list of priorities in the next 12 to 18 months. The whole agenda will transform and won't go nuclear."

This is a point Oehme is keen to stress, emphasising that there is "so much more out there that can be done".

"Nuclear is not an appropriate way to go. The whole cost of life and cost of nuclear power is enormous. But it is not just the initial cost, but also the ongoing and end of life costs."

Initiatives that may look minor on the surface, he adds, can in fact achieve huge results and make a significant impact in helping the world manage and minimise its energy resources. "The Australian government, for example, phased out incandescent lightbulbs in place of efficient fluorescents and this is a sensible way to go. Now the EU has followed suit and will phase them out within three years." The move will immediately eliminate over two billion bulbs that only use around 5% of their energy to emit light. More importantly the EU would cut carbon (CO2) emissions by about 20 million tonnes a year, decelerating climate change and save between five and eight billion Euros a year in domestic fuel bills.

"Nuclear power stations are generally located far away from cities, the energy is sent across vast expanses of power lines and then to consumers in a very inefficient way. We have to think of other solutions."

As he rightly adds, both land and sun are available in abundance in the region and governments should now look to harness these natural elements in order to manage and minimise energy.

"Doing it environmentally under a commercial model will enable companies to differentiate their products and services, help the environment and steer us away from nuclear.

"It is more than just location and height. We are in a region that jumped straight to seven stars and missed out the sixth, if we can make that leap environmentally then we have a huge opportunity to make the environment in which we live a better place."

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READERS' COMMENTS

Solar is the best
Posted by hiro bachani, dubai, uae on Monday 26 March 2007 at 14:03 UAE time


When there are innovative builders/developers who can think out of the box and develop projects like the Palisades, then we feel more sanguine about the future of the Gulf Countries. We are sure that they will try their best to develop greener resources, and a day might come when these GCC countries will be considered as leaders in renewable green energy. Hail to the great leaders of the GCC countries. regards- hiro bachani- mg. director- http://www.merlin-me.com

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