Chronology | Current Month | Current Thread | Current Date |
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] | [Date Index] [Thread Index] | [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] | [Date Prev] [Date Next] |
One of the biggest asset of nuclear power during the transition period from
fossil to renewable is HIGH DENSITY. The current energy infrastructure
relies on siting power plants in high population/land use areas.
Coal/gas/nuclear power plants can be sited on a couple square miles of land
and produce 2000 MW of power.
It would take 4000 1.5MW wind generators to
AVERAGE that much (with 33% operational efficiencies--with are typical) and
you'd still have periods of no wind in the region. It will take decades to
build up an infrastructure where HUGE wind/solar farms can produce, STORE,
and TRANSPORT our total energy needs. The North-East (Boston to DC) is
always going to be a problem area.
"Clean Coal"??? And you don't use "deus ex machina" solutions? If there was ever an oxymoron, "clean coal" is it. We have no idea if we can even capture a significant fraction of the CO2 emitted by a coal plant, or what the cost would be, and no one has a clue if any practical form of storage is or ever will be available for the CO2. It will need to be at least as long-term secure as nuclear waste, and there will be a lot more of it. Such a process is at least 20 years away from any possible practicality, and doesn't begin to deal with the severe environmental problems with every form of coal mining, especially the "mountaintopping" variety that is turning West Virginia into an extension of the great plains, without the grass.
When my class does their energy project
(supplying U.S. energy 100 years from now without the use of oil or gas) we
don't allow any 'deus ex machina' solutions. We work with proven
technology. It can be done, for 10s of trillions of dollars, and several
hundred thousand square miles of land. But nuclear, 'clean coal', and as
much hydro as possible are part of the program along with hydrogen as a
storage medium and portable fuel. What can be done in the U.S. can be more
difficult elsewhere. Japan for example has land problems. They really need
some high density energy sources.