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Solar has the huge problem of not being available when it's needed. Early in the morning and late in the evening. Until that is solved with some form of storage
by xupybd 5y ago
Solar has the huge problem of not being available when it's needed. Early in the morning and late in the evening. Until that is solved with some form of storage it can't solve the problem of greenhouse emissions.
- stavros 5y agoAh yes, the "it's useless unless it's perfect" argument. Nuclear has the huge problem of not being available for another decade (because that's how long it takes to build plants). Until that is solved with some form of pocket reactor it can't solve the problem of greenhouse emissions.
- xupybd 5y agoYeah, no single technology can solve the problem yet. I don't think the build time is really the main problem with nuclear. If you could replace most of the coal and gas generators in a little over a decade the impact would be immense. Far sooner than I'd expect to see solar have a similar impact. But nuclear only works in wealthy nations. The main problem with nuclear is the dangers of letting them get into a state of disrepair. In a politically unstable county it could be a real danger if they cannot secure the fuel or waste. A dirty bomb could be an environmental disaster. Here in NZ many install solar and back feed the grid. They get paid to do so. But this doesn't help reduce emissions. During peak load the coal plants still fire up. We have significant hydro generation but require fossil fuels to deal with peak load. If home owners invested in batteries alone I suspect we could do a better job reducing our emissions.
- stavros 5y ago> Far sooner than I'd expect to see solar have a similar impact. Sure, and there's no reason we can't have both, that's my point. > A dirty bomb could be an environmental disaster. I live in an area with ~20 coal plants in a 15-minute radius and, let me tell you, a dirty bomb would probably have been cleaner.
- thedrbrian 5y agoOk I’m curious. What sort of industrial area needs 20 coal power plants in a 15 minute ?drive? Major aluminium production and mining , chinese crypto hub ?
- stavros 5y agoNo, nothing like that. There are just large coal reserves and this area powers much of Greece's electricity.
- orhmeh09 5y agoHas there ever been a dirty bomb anywhere? Is it a realistic concern? I don’t think it is; my opinion is it was drummed up by the US government and media in the post-2001 frenzy.
- throw0101a 5y ago> Nuclear has the huge problem of not being available for another decade (because that's how long it takes to build plants). At the very least we can stop shutting down the plants we currently have. There is a finite amount of infrastructure that can be built at any one time: instead of shutting down nukes and building renewables to take their place, we should be shutting down fossil fuel plants and having renewable take over them. Once all the fossil fuel plants are gone we can talk about nuclear at that point.
- stavros 5y agoHey, no argument from me there.
- pvaldes 5y agoRunning old 70's plants until they crumble and fail with "the mother of all messes" does not seem like an economic or sensible option.
- throw0101a 5y agoYou're not wrong, but good luck trying to get Gen III(+) and IV plants approved.
- zajio1am 5y ago> Early in the morning and late in the evening That is solvable problem. Much worse issue is that in mid lattitudes (e.g. central Europe) it is not available (or just marginal) most of winter.