It is a valid assumption because the only way for consumption to go down OVERALL is for the per capita consumption to drop at a greater rate that the population is growing. With a growing and expanding economy, consumption will ALWAYS go up. The bottom line is as technology goes forward, you have to pay for it somehow, both in resource consumption and other ways.
Nuclear is the only viable alternative on a scale big enough to make a difference. The effects of TMI are irrelevant, more people die from aspirin each year than ever dies due to nuclear issues.
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Originally Posted by cmac2012
Your assumption in this is that we will continue to use energy such that those forecasts are accurate, and that we are well served by that energy use.
Nuclear has its own problems. New reports are coming out that 3 Mile Island had worse effects than were reported.
Eventually, the upward trends of energy usage and population growth will change. No way around it. How we manage that is the biggie. Getting further and further out on the limb is not an answer.
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