For this point in human history, where we have the most advanced and powerful tools ever known to man at our fingertips, where we have mapped the earth and drawn designs upon the stars, split molecules and are knocking very resoundingly on the door of artificial intelligence. We sure seem to have a very jejune view of how our planet actually works. Or at very least, how to heal it. What we’re talking about here, of course, is climate change – and carbon emissions – but also the technological solutions that should be utilized in combating the problem.
At this juncture in our society, even a 5-year-old with a lollipop in his mouth can regurgitate the climate change mantra: carbon dioxide emissions have created a greenhouse effect in the atmosphere that is trapping heat and warming our planet… REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS! You hear everyone from politicians who claim they’ve been green for decades to your local coffee barista wearing his save-the-earth pin going on about carbon footprints, renewable energy resources, global net-zero emissions by whatever year— and this contagious naivety would almost be wonderfully comedic if it didn’t belie a deeper, more penetrating sadness: our planet IS in danger and the vast majority of us don’t have a clue as to what an actual and viable solution looks like.
Unfortunately, reaching net-zero carbon emissions all over the world actually does nothing to impede the current problem. Even if a wand could magically be waved over the earth and not a single carbon molecule flew into the air the planet would still continue to warm up yearly. This is because the damage as already been done.
In the nearly two centuries since the industrial revolution humanity has flung more than 1 trillion tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere—and unfortunately in this case, what goes up does not necessarily have to come back down. These gases essentially hang in the air like release or control valves, increasing the rate at which heat from the sun is trapped and held within the planet’s atmosphere—thereby gradually altering the earth’s temperature. Simply by ceasing to emit more carbon does not erase that which we already have strung across the earth like dark tapestries.
What’s needed is a way to “scrub” or “vacuum” the atmosphere, to reduce the number of greenhouse gases already in the air in an effort to restore what scientists refer to as radiative balance. There is only one energy source that can achieve that: nuclear power. Instead of negotiating the energy between two atoms, such as is done with everything from fossil fuels to wind farms, nuclear harnesses the energy inside the atom to produce nearly 3 million times the energy output with a carbon footprint that is essentially negative. It follows that if it requires energy to remove carbon from the atmosphere, then the energy source with the absolute lowest footprint would be the best solution to not only stopping current and future emissions but cleansing the damage already floating all around us.
If nuclear energy is going to be the solution to this looming planetary crisis, then it is going to need precise measurement and control processes—which is exactly where OTEK envisions our NTM-V model taking shape within the industry. Designed for the nuclear industry and qualified to the requirements of 10VFR50/Appendix B under our NQA-1 program, the NTM-V replaces popular Versatile, Sigma or VMI 9200 Series meters, in addition to boasting highlight features of self-diagnostics, an automatic tricolor bar graph with intensity control, 4 digit display, isolated serial I/O with USB/RS485/Ethernet options, a configurable bar direction (up/down/center zero), power inputs of 5-32VDC & 90-265VAC, as well as the OTEK lifetime warranty. Several nuclear power plants within the United States have already experienced much success with the NTM-V in their I&C rooms.
While we all agree that curbing CO2 emissions is paramount, restoring balance to our atmosphere is the ultimate goal of any successful effort to preserve our planet’s future—and the only way to achieve that is through nuclear energy.
For more information on the NTM-V or OTEK’s efforts to help the nuclear industry, please call our office at (520) 748-7900 or email our sales department sales@otekcorp.com