The New Tens: Difference between revisions

Alternative fuel sources continue to grow in availability, albeit slowly, and energy-efficient appliances are on the cusp of becoming the norm. The only workable alternative to fossil fuels at the beginning of the decade, nuclear power, fell under scrutiny due to the earthquake/tsunami combo critically damaging atomic energy plants in Japan, most notably the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. While not nearly as severe as Chernobyl<ref>both are category 7, but only because category 7 is a catch-all 'off the scale' rating - Chernobyl was at least ten times worse than Fukushima</ref>, it has had a similar chilling effect, and the outcome of this shaped nuclear power policies for the rest of the decade as countries rethought their nuclear programs. Germany led the way on this one, with the government of Angela Merkel doing a 180 on nuclear policy, announcing plans to eliminate ''all'' nuclear power in Germany by 2020<ref>After previously having considered ''expanding'' the system</ref>, shortly after the accident in a desperate attempt to keep voters on their side; while her CDU/CSU has taken a drubbing, her coalition partners, the libertarian FDP, has been wiped out or nearly so from at least two [[The Sixteen Lands of Deutschland|state legislatures]], and the Greens have officially become a prospective party of government. On the other hand, France and (more significantly) India and Britain<ref>"More significantly," because France already relies on nuclear power for 75% of its electrical generation, and public opinion isn't about to be swayed by one accident in a faraway land</ref> continued to press ahead in their plans to preserve and expand their nuclear power base, so the future remains ''extremely'' muddy on this one. Another option became viable during this decade: electrical storage batteries increased in efficiency and decreased in both weight and price while solar and wind power became noticeably less expensive, leading to increased adoption of electric vehicles over the second half of the decade. By the end of the decade, it was possible to drive an electric car across North America, recharging at roadside stations the way fuel-powered vehicles refill at roadside stations - and the electric car was priced competitively with an equivalent fuel-burner when total cost of ownership was taken into account. Also, some municipalities introduced "net zero" building codes, stating that new residential buildings had to return as much power to the electricity grid as they used. A few concept buildings have been built and not connected to the grid at all.

 

 

See Also: [[The Roaring Twenties]], [[The Great Depression]], [[The Forties]], [[The Fifties]], [[The Sixties]], [[The Seventies]], [[The Eighties]], [[The Nineties]], and [[Turn of the Millennium]].