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The politics around nuclear is a real hurdle (rightly or wrongly) so it makes sense to look at other solutions. Lots of energy in Europe is supplied from count

by gehsty 6y ago

The politics around nuclear is a real hurdle (rightly or wrongly) so it makes sense to look at other solutions. Lots of energy in Europe is supplied from countries you may not want to be reliant on (Russian gas for example).

ThomPete 6y ago
if politics is the problem, it would indicate that not even the politicians mean there is a problem. If they were truly concerned with CO2 emissions they would find ways to solve for the criminalization of nuclear we are seeing.
- gehsty 6y ago
  UK is currently building new nuclear. Can’t think of anywhere else. For me people seem to have an either or opinion - we should build renewables or nuclear or whatever (I don’t think this is your stance though). Reality is that we should be deploying none CO2 producing energy as quickly as possible, and if that means building solar / wind farms then build them, if we can build nuclear then build it. Hopefully politics will enable future low risk low waste etc nuclear to thrive.
fuoqi 6y ago
It's for European countries to decide from whom they want to import energy and not, isn't it? But for some reason the biggest opponent of this "reliance" is the US, not the affected European countries.
- gehsty 6y ago
  I think the annexation of Crimea certainly increased tension between Europe and Russia. I’m not sure how it effected energy policy however.
  - fuoqi 6y ago
    And? How is it relevant to my point about letting European countries to decide their policy for themselves? Some countries like Poland have announced a complete discontinuation of gas import from Russia in the near future (though I suspect they still will buy it indirectly like Ukraine), others like Germany would like to continue import the same amount (which for the whole EU has already decreased compared to the previous decade from ~630 billion m3 per year to ~550). Note that it's much easier for Poland to do, since it still uses coal for 70% of its electricity generation, compared to Germany with its 30-40% renewables and powerful industry.
    - gehsty 6y ago
      I was meaning that annexation of Crimea might have made countries want to be less reliant on Russia as a partner, outside of US-Russia relations. I agree it is up to European countries to do what they want.

by gehsty 6y ago

ThomPete 6y ago

if politics is the problem, it would indicate that not even the politicians mean there is a problem. If they were truly concerned with CO2 emissions they would find ways to solve for the criminalization of nuclear we are seeing.

gehsty 6y ago
UK is currently building new nuclear. Can’t think of anywhere else. For me people seem to have an either or opinion - we should build renewables or nuclear or whatever (I don’t think this is your stance though). Reality is that we should be deploying none CO2 producing energy as quickly as possible, and if that means building solar / wind farms then build them, if we can build nuclear then build it. Hopefully politics will enable future low risk low waste etc nuclear to thrive.

fuoqi 6y ago

It's for European countries to decide from whom they want to import energy and not, isn't it? But for some reason the biggest opponent of this "reliance" is the US, not the affected European countries.

gehsty 6y ago
I think the annexation of Crimea certainly increased tension between Europe and Russia. I’m not sure how it effected energy policy however.
- fuoqi 6y ago
  And? How is it relevant to my point about letting European countries to decide their policy for themselves? Some countries like Poland have announced a complete discontinuation of gas import from Russia in the near future (though I suspect they still will buy it indirectly like Ukraine), others like Germany would like to continue import the same amount (which for the whole EU has already decreased compared to the previous decade from ~630 billion m3 per year to ~550). Note that it's much easier for Poland to do, since it still uses coal for 70% of its electricity generation, compared to Germany with its 30-40% renewables and powerful industry.
  - gehsty 6y ago
    I was meaning that annexation of Crimea might have made countries want to be less reliant on Russia as a partner, outside of US-Russia relations. I agree it is up to European countries to do what they want.