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The laws of thermodynamics doesn't take into account the assumption that future energy production is cheaper then today's. If there is a change in energy produ
by frankbreetz 5y ago
The laws of thermodynamics doesn't take into account the assumption that future energy production is cheaper then today's.
If there is a change in energy production like a breakthrough in fusion or an over production of renewables, it is at least theoretically possible that would be cheaper to remove then to not emit
- ianai 5y agoRight. The costs of future production have to be less than they were in the past or it’s even worse. Regardless though it represents a huge transfer of wealth from the future to the past.
- nradov 5y agoEven if we get working fusion power the laws of thermodynamics tell us that it's not going to be much cheaper than current fission power. The heat will be generated in a different way but the process for using that heat to boil water and spin a turbine will be basically the same. That means huge capital investments and then constant maintenance to keep everything running.
- twobitshifter 5y agoMuch of the high cost of fission power is due to the radioactive waste. The cost of fuel per kWh of nuclear is very low. >The cost of raw uranium contributes about $0.0015/kWh to the cost of nuclear electricity, while in breeder reactors the uranium cost falls to $0.000015/kWh https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics_of_nuclear_power_plants https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics_of_nuclear_power_p... When you’re talking about thermal power generation - the process is the same in any power plant, so you could use your same argument with gas, coal, or geothermal - all steam and turbines. It’s not fair to use this to just make the comparison to nuclear power alone.