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That was a rhetorical question. But the answer is won't. I submit to you that the economics and historical precedent are utterly irrelevant. It's a simple ch
by andbberger 6y ago
That was a rhetorical question.
But the answer is won't.
I submit to you that the economics and historical precedent are utterly irrelevant.
It's a simple choice: build more nuclear power plants..... or face extinction
- epistasis 6y agoThat is not the choice at all, and I have yet to see anybody make a serious case for it. There are lots of plans for renewable, carbon free grids out there. Most include nuclear, but not all. Nuclear is not an essential component of any of them, we have many alternatives, the only question is which will provide the cheapest energy. IMHO, it's unlikely to be nuclear, and I think that because those who include nuclear as a part of their future grids vastly underestimate the pace of change for renewables and storage.
- pfdietz 6y agoAs an example, consider this story out of Utah: https://spectra.mhi.com/hydrogen-and-salt-domes-are-winning-the-west-for-renewable-energy https://spectra.mhi.com/hydrogen-and-salt-domes-are-winning-... A single cavity in that salt dome can store 150 GWh of energy, and there's room for 100 cavities.
- epistasis 6y agoI may have underestimate the potential of salt domes... I think we will be making lots of hydrogen for decarbonization of industrial processes, and maybe even for aviation or shipping, so as long as we can dump electrons to Utah and find the water, this sounds great.
- Dylan16807 6y agoSo about 5 hours of power for the entire US, though ~40% efficient?
- pfdietz 6y agoAverage electric power generation in the US, on the grid, is a bit less than 500 GW. So, 15 TWh is about 30 hours. There are lots and lots of other salt formations, both in the US and in the world. Also, aquifers and exhausted oil and gas fields can be used to store hydrogen.
- cbmuser 6y agoI believe it when I see it. It’s a project that exists on paper, not in reality.
- pfdietz 6y agoWould you believe the trillions of cubic feet of natural gas that is stored in a large number of storage systems across the US? A good chunk of that is in very large cavities in salt formations. This is not new technology.
- cercatrova 6y agoThis isn't good discourse, don't ask questions you can't accept (not necessarily agree with, of course) the answers to without condescension.
- bawolff 6y agoI'm with the OP on this one. Its clearly a won't not a can't. We have built them in the past, the knowledge didn't get lost. This isn't greek fire. The political environment being such that nobody wants to build them is the definition of won't not can't.
- cercatrova 6y agoThat's fine, I am not commenting on the content of the response, only on the condescending attitude it had.
- andbberger 6y agoYeah you're right about that. My bad.