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Energy insecurity

By Coral Bell - posted Wednesday, 21 June 2006


The chief of Ballard Power Systems, a Canadian company which makes the very sophisticated hydrogen fuel-cells needed for space vehicles, believes that the problems of cost and storage could be solved within the next few years.

There are several reasons why the prime minister should widen his inquiry to include this field. The premiers seem to have already decided to take a “not in my backyard” stance on nuclear installations of any sort. The Greens could be reconciled to hydrogen as a prospect, because it allows plenty of scope for “renewables”.

Sun, wind, wave, tide or geothermal sources could all be used to generate the power for the electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen to generate yet more power. And that route could be almost entirely pollution-free. What is more, it could avoid still more land and water being used to raise crops of soy, corm or sugar-cane to be used for fuel instead of food.

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Above all, however, it could reduce the prospect of all our grandchildren and great-grandchildren living in a very dangerous world in which 30 or 40 countries would probably be able to produce nuclear warheads within a year if some irresponsible political leader gave the order.

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About the Author

Dr Coral Bell is a Visiting Fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies at the Australian National University in Canberra.

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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