3 ms·
That’s not correct - nuclear power plants only have efficiencies of about 33-37%, so 63 to 67% of the energy that nuclear reaction is producing is dumped into t
by stephen_g 4y ago
That’s not correct - nuclear power plants only have efficiencies of about 33-37%, so 63 to 67% of the energy that nuclear reaction is producing is dumped into the atmosphere which wouldn’t have otherwise (obviously there would have otherwise still been some radioactive decay of the material in the ground if it wasn’t used as nuclear fuel, but nothing like refining it and bringing it to a critical mass in a reactor).
Meanwhile, 100% of the energy that a solar panel receives (and radiates some back as heat) would have hit the earth anyway.