From a reader: Look at the footprint of solar panels it takes to produce the same amount as a nuclear plant, then tell me what’s better for the Earth!
Needless to say, I’ve heard this a great many times over the years. The subject is a bit complex.
While it’s true that nuclear offers far better energy density that solar (and wind), this is one of many criteria we use to determine the best resource(s). We might rank our presidents on the basis of how few wars the Unites States was fighting during their tenure in office, yet there are dozens of other important criteria: economic strength, lessening the gaps between rich and poor, etc.
Another way to look at this subject is to look at competing resources in a certain region. The central part of the U.S. has incredible wind resources; a normal day in the Nebraska grid-mix offers 70% wind.
If human civilization is to avoid environmental collapse driven by climate change, nuclear is going to be absolutely necessary, but only partially due to energy density; nuclear boasts high reliability and capacity factor, as well as low operating expenses.
In all, the world needs to hope that nuclear advances quickly; we won’t do well without it.
Thanks for the comment.
Renewable Energy
Remembering Buckminster Fuller, 20th Century Super-Engineer and His Beliefs about Humanity
Fuller’s words here have been echoed through the ages, e.g., Mahatma Gandhi’s note: “The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.”
The problem: Most people living in our capitalist civilization care very little about what Bucky here called “livingry.” The typical person in the developed world thinks almost nothing about starving children and even less about recasting world society into a place where we take care of the wellbeing of everyone.
He was one of the great minds that have ever graced our planet, IMO.
Remembering Buckminster Fuller, 20th Century Super-Engineer and His Beliefs about Humanity
Six months ago, our local CVS drugstore had a manager, a handful of employees answering customers’ questions, checking them out at the cash register, stocking shelves, etc.
Last month, I noticed that most of these employees were gone, and the former manager was now stocking shelves. I also noted long lines of customers waiting for an automated checkout machine to become available.
Last week, I saw the former manager working at a nearby grocery store.
Also, the pharmacy is now closed for an hour for lunch. When I asked about this, I was asked, “Don’t you think we employees deserve to eat lunch?” I responded, “Of course I do. But can’t CVS afford to staff the pharmacy so customers are not inconvenienced?”
This is certainly not a unique–or even rare–occurrence; it seem that CVS is like most large corporations, driven by cost-cutting, while abusing their employees and their customers.
Barack Obama read the actual GOP agenda to a roaring Atlanta crowd Wednesday: a $1 trillion tax cut for millionaires and billionaires, paid for with higher health care costs and Medicaid cuts. Plus a war in Iran that everyone warned would push prices up. “(Democrats will) ban hamburgers and make everybody eat tofu,” he joked.
AI data centre ban in suburbs would not address fundamental issues: Greenpeace
Remembering Buckminster Fuller, 20th Century Super-Engineer and His Beliefs about Humanity
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