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I got a little excited when I saw the article a few days ago about the growing potential for fusion power reactors the size of tennis courts. Compact nuclear po
by darksaints 6y ago
I got a little excited when I saw the article a few days ago about the growing potential for fusion power reactors the size of tennis courts. Compact nuclear power with abundant fuel, no runaway reaction potential, and no fission waste, would be the holy grail for the maritime industries.
But even barring the potential for nuclear, renewable power for ships is feasible. Liquid hydrogen has a ton of potential as a fuel source. And it can be reliably produced sustainably with reasonable efficiency. Price is the only factor barring its use currently (the technology already exists, and it is already good enough). With abundant intermittent renewables, excess power will get cheaper, which will bring down the prices for hydrogen. And when cleaner is actually cheaper than dirty, even the ethically-challenged will make the right choice.
- noneeeed 6y agoYeah, in a saner and safer world, we'd have little nuclear powers plants running a lot of things. If we can generate clean hydrogen I think an awful lot of things that are not easily converted to battery will get a lot cleaner, I think it's being looked at as a replacement for coal in steel production. I think we're still some years away from that unfortunately, last estimate I saw was about a decade, but fingers crossed we get there earlier. As you say, making doing the right thing cheaper than doing the wrong is the way we solve so many of these problems. Unfortunately we also need to get to the point where it's cheaper to scrap the old kit and replace it, than not, which may take longer.