Coal and Uranium

Two Important but Dangerous Energy Sources 　　

　　The 21st century presents mankind with 2 huge challenges: 1) the anticipated peaking of oil and natural gas production about 2050, while energy demand continues to rise; and 2) the rapid rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide, largely due to the burning of fossil fuels, contributing to global warming and rising sea levels. I shall present a brief perspective over the near-term (2000- 2050); medium term (2050 -2150), and long term (2150 and beyond), followed by an analysis of the significant roles of coal and uranium, especially during the short and medium term until effectively exhausted.

　　Coal and uranium are dangerous energy sources: coal causes air- pollution and global warming; uranium enables nuclear weapons proliferation, provides tempting targets for terrorists: and has disposal problems. There is urgent need for prompt and energetic mitigation of these dangers, and to enable the long term with safe and renewable energy sources, primarily solar, wind, biomass and-possibly-nuclear fusion.

两种重要但危险的能源--煤和铀

　　二十一世纪呈现给人类两个巨大的挑战：第一个是据预测到2050年各个国家对能源需求的增长将导致石油及天然气产量的大幅度增加；第二个是大气中二氧化碳含量的急剧增加，导致了全球性变暖以及海平面的上升，而这很大程度上是由于矿石燃料的燃烧。我将为大家提供对于近期（2000年--2050年）、中期（2050年--2150年）以及长期（2150年及以后）的大致观点，这个观点是根据对煤和铀的重要角色的分析得出的，尤其是在短期及中期直到这两种能源消耗殆尽。

　　煤和铀是危险的能源：煤导致空气污染和全球性变暖；铀能使核武器扩散；给恐怖分子提供诱人的攻击目标：这使我们不得不考虑如何处理这些能源的问题。我们迫切需要及时有力的降低这些危险，并长期使用安全、可再生的能源，主要包括有太阳能、风能、生物能和可能的核能 。