Global Warming and Energy Policy

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xx

   PDF

2. Introduction

   1. Five Issues

      • Behram N. Kursunoglu, Edward Teller

      Pages 1-9

   2. Some Global Environmental Issues of Public Concern

      • Richard Wilson

      Pages 11-28

3. A Scientific Assessment of Emission of Greenhouse Gases Into the Atmosphere

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 29-29

      PDF

   2. Free-Market Approaches to Controlling Carbon Dioxide Emissions to the Atmosphere

      • Klaus S. Lackner, Richard Wilson, Hans-Joachim Ziock

      Pages 31-46

   3. The Precautionary Principle: A guide for action

      • Jean Couture

      Pages 47-54

   4. Nuclear Power — Meeting Tomorrow’s Electrical Generation Paradigm

      • C. K. Paulson

      Pages 55-63

4. Nuclear Energy and Environment: Facts and Myths

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 65-65

      PDF

   2. Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century

      • Leonard L. Bennett, C. Pierre Zaleski

      Pages 67-104

   3. Nuclear Plant Financial Performance in a Restructured Utility System

      • Shelby T. Brewer

      Pages 105-117

   4. Global Warming — An Opportunity for Nuclear Power? Well Yes, But......

      • Peter Beck, Malcolm Grimston

      Pages 119-127

   5. Near-Term Demonstration of Benign, Sustainable, Nuclear Power

      • Carl E. Walter

      Pages 129-138

   6. Energy Technologies and Climate Change: A World and European Outlook

      • Domenico Rossetti di Valdalbero

      Pages 139-150

   7. Global Warming: A Science Overview

      • Michael C. MacCracken

      Pages 151-159

   8. “Is Nuclear Energy Going to Miss Its Environment Mission?”

      • Juan Eibenschutz

      Pages 161-167

   9. California’s Electricity Problem — and the Potential World Energy Disasters

      • Bertram Wolfe

      Pages 169-170

5. Nuclear Energy, Non-Proliferation, and Other Considerations

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 171-171

      PDF

   2. Non-Proliferation Issues for Generation IV Power Systems

      • Joseph Magill, Roland Schenkel

      Pages 173-185

   3. Blacklight Power Technology

      • Randell L. Mills

      Pages 187-201

   4. Gas Resources for the 21st Century

      • Jacques Maire

      Pages 203-212

The first part of the conference explores two major environmental concerns that arise from fuel use: (1) the prospect that the globe will become warmer as a result of emissions of carbon dioxide, and (2) the effect upon health of the fine particles emitted as combustion products. The conference focused on the fact that there was lack of data direct enough to enable us to predict an entirely satisfactory result, and that makes policy options particularly difficult. With regard to (1) above, in the second half of the 20th century there were major increases in anthropogenic C02 emissions, and it is generally agreed that these were responsible for an increase in C02 concentrations. But the relationship between global temperature and CO2 concentrations remains murky. The principal problem is that water vapor is a more important greenhouse gas than C02 and that the concentrations of water vapor vary widely in time and space. The approach to this problem is probably, but not certainly, a positive feedback effect: as temperature increases so does the water vapor leading to further temperature increases. Scientists associated with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) tend to believe the general features of the models. Other scientists are often less convinced.

• Global warming
• Greenhouse gas
• atmosphere
• climate change
• nuclear energy
• temperature
• air pollution and air quality

• Global Foundation, Inc., Coral Gables, USA

  Behram N. Kursunoglu

• Florida International University, Miami, USA

  Stephan L. Mintz

• University of Miami, Coral Gables, USA

  Arnold Perlmutter

Policies and ethics