3 ms·

Honestly quite a bit, but, unfortunately the response time of Nuclear power is not the fastest available. It takes hours to get the process going, or to shut it

Honestly quite a bit, but, unfortunately the response time of Nuclear power is not the fastest available. It takes hours to get the process going, or to shut it down, and unfortunately an energy grid needs to have a demand-supply net of 0 (usually plus/minus 1.5%) or the appliances connected might face some irreversible damage. This means that, while Nuclear could have been a great answer to a good chunk of the energy demand (sorry cannot estimate how much), we would have probably still needed a lot of the traditional fossil fuel source fo generation. The other aspect to always keep in mind, when looking at a system as mature as the energy grid is COSTS. Most likely the economy of nuclear doesn't work out compared to the alternatives available. (that's why policies and incentives are needed to move away from fossile fuel)

adflux 6y ago
When you try to dismiss nuclear, what alternative "clean energy" can you "turn on" when experiencing increased demand in energy? Can you turn on the sun or the wind?
- snickmy 6y ago
  There are two aspects to consider here: 1- what is the response time and the cost for alternative generation: Biomass is a valid 'on demand' alternative here. Geothermal + Tidal, while still intermittent are more predictable (like the Sun) hence it's easier to design ahead. Which is quite useful when it comes to deployment You can read more here: https://courses.edx.org/assets/courseware/v1/95ea4a6731bff7e1e80265f14784f501/asset-v1:ImperialX+dacc003+3T2019+type@asset+block/2.1_POWER_STATIONS.pdf https://courses.edx.org/assets/courseware/v1/95ea4a6731bff7e... 2- what other demand-respond can be achieved/deployed (i.e.: storage and demand side response). For instance hydro is a very good solutions here, malten salt storage, and hydrogen are upcoming technologies. More on flexibility here: https://courses.edx.org/assets/courseware/v1/416cc82fc233d200f86eb388d94be2ec/asset-v1:ImperialX+dacc003+3T2019+type@asset+block/4.1_System_operations.pdf https://courses.edx.org/assets/courseware/v1/416cc82fc233d20...

adflux 6y ago

When you try to dismiss nuclear, what alternative "clean energy" can you "turn on" when experiencing increased demand in energy? Can you turn on the sun or the wind?

snickmy 6y ago
There are two aspects to consider here: 1- what is the response time and the cost for alternative generation: Biomass is a valid 'on demand' alternative here. Geothermal + Tidal, while still intermittent are more predictable (like the Sun) hence it's easier to design ahead. Which is quite useful when it comes to deployment You can read more here: https://courses.edx.org/assets/courseware/v1/95ea4a6731bff7e1e80265f14784f501/asset-v1:ImperialX+dacc003+3T2019+type@asset+block/2.1_POWER_STATIONS.pdf https://courses.edx.org/assets/courseware/v1/95ea4a6731bff7e... 2- what other demand-respond can be achieved/deployed (i.e.: storage and demand side response). For instance hydro is a very good solutions here, malten salt storage, and hydrogen are upcoming technologies. More on flexibility here: https://courses.edx.org/assets/courseware/v1/416cc82fc233d200f86eb388d94be2ec/asset-v1:ImperialX+dacc003+3T2019+type@asset+block/4.1_System_operations.pdf https://courses.edx.org/assets/courseware/v1/416cc82fc233d20...