It is too risky to rely solely on renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power for replacing fossil fuels because of problems to do with scalability, cost, materials and land use, they explain.
Pounds takes another view: "The coal will be consumed to produce power regardless of the end use or designation of the [CCW] and the challenge of replacing coal power with cleaner alternatives will remain urgent.
GETTING down to specifics of replacing the power output of the plant, several opponents, speaking separately, agreed that a combination of measures would be needed.
In the latter case, governments have to decide two things: whether nuclear power is the best means of replacing the low-carbon energy the old plants were producing and, if so, which nuclear technology should best be adopted.
But Michael Kaplowitz, a county legislator who along with County Executive Andrew J. Spano supports the study, said it would answer Westchester residents' questions about the consequences of replacing nuclear power with natural gas.
Solar power enthusiasts have long dreamed of replacing fossil fuels with clean-burning hydrogen gas.
Fuel cells are a clean technology with low emissions levels, suitable for operation with renewable fuels and capable, in a next future, of replacing conventional power systems meeting the targets of the Kyoto Protocol for a society based on sustainable energy systems.
The estimate did not include the cost of replacing the power the shut-down plant was no longer generating.
Republicans offered little criticism on Wednesday, for instance, of Mr. Obama's selection of Samantha Power to replace Ms. Rice as ambassador to the United Nations, which is subject to Senate approval.
Quite apart from the environmental benefits of replacing fossil-fuel power stations with renewables, major clean energy projects should be going ahead at full tilt.
