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As a supporter of nuclear, I think most nuclear supporters will be happy if we achieve carbon neutrality by any means. But as other commenters pointed out, ren

As a supporter of nuclear, I think most nuclear supporters will be happy if we achieve carbon neutrality by any means. But as other commenters pointed out, renewables are not achieving that in most places. According to Google, a staunchly anti-nuclear Germany has 6.95 tons per capita at 2023. France achieved that at 1986 (!!) and is now at 4.14. It's really a question that should be directed at renewables: "If renewables are so cheap and fast to deploy, how come 39 years after Chernobyl, Germany still cannot get below France in CO2 emission?"

kieranmaine 1y ago
> It's really a question that should be directed at renewables: "If renewables are so cheap and fast to deploy, how come 39 years after Chernobyl, Germany still cannot get below France in CO2 emission?" Because renewables and storage have only been produced at the scale and price required to achieve this for the last 5 years. [1] The following article "Solar electricity every hour of every day is here and it changes everything"[2] is an interesting demonstration of how solar + batteries is pushing other generation sources to the periphery in most of the world. Edit: Here is some more data for Brazil and the UK showing a large increase in solar over the last 5 years [3][4] 1. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/solar-power-continues-to-surge-in-2024/ https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/solar-power-continu... 2. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/solar-electricity-every-hour-of-every-day-is-here-and-it-changes-everything/ https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/solar-electricity-e... 3. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/wind-and-solar-generate-over-a-third-of-brazils-electricity-for-the-first-month-on-record/ https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/wind-and-solar-gene... 4.https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/a-record-year-for-british-solar/ https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/a-record-year-for-b...
- strawhatguy 1y ago
  just looked at 2, using their own numbers, and it says 97% to 24/365, in a sunny area (Las Vegas), which is like an outage 43 minutes out of every day (24 * 0.03 * 60). That's not what many would consider as 24/365, and certainly not "every hour of every day".
  - kieranmaine 1y ago
    The report mentions this: > Las Vegas can reach 97% of the way to 1 GW constant supply. My take away from the report is not that 24/365 is achieveable everywhere, but how solar + batteries is rapidly dropping in price and is now cheaper with other forms of generation, which will result in solar + batteries making up the majority of generation on the grid. > In a sunny city like Las Vegas, the estimated Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) at this 97% benchmark is $104/MWh. This is already 22% lower than the $132/MWh estimate based on global average capital costs of solar and battery a year earlier. It is also more cost-effective than coal in many regions ($118/MWh) and far cheaper than nuclear ($182/MWh).
    - strawhatguy 1y ago
      I guess, but this article seems misleading to me then. The percentages do seem to mean to constant 1GW supply, not a total supply. So what’s the total supply? LV is ~9 Gwh per day (3.3Twh year according to internets), so 23ish Gwh does seem promising, but they don’t have near that much solar I don’t think. I guess Im more skeptical, especially when this is coming from a single purpose advocacy group. They just shut down that solar thermal electric plant after all. While that’s different than photovoltaics I know, it’s also true no grand plan survives implementation.
      - kieranmaine 1y ago
        > I guess Im more skeptical, especially when this is coming from a single purpose advocacy group I agree it's unlikely you'll just have solar + batteries used just for LV. However, taking a look at the adoption of storage in California and Texas, I think it's safe to assume an upwards trajectory for solar + batteries [1]. I didn't know much about Nevada's electricity generation, but based on current data [1] there are enough alternative sources to support a sizeable increase in solar generation. Still, I don't know how much solar will be deployed and I hope nuclear does drop in price in order to speed up the energy transistion. It's exciting to see so many great technological leaps in our lifetimes. Finally, a shout out to geothermal, which looks very promising. I recommend listening to "Catching up with enhanced geothermal " - https://www.volts.wtf/p/catching-up-with-enhanced-geothermal https://www.volts.wtf/p/catching-up-with-enhanced-geothermal. 1. https://www.gridstatus.io/live/caiso?date=2025-09-14 https://www.gridstatus.io/live/caiso?date=2025-09-14 2. https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/#/topic/0?agg=2,0,1&fuel=vvvvu&geo=00000000002&sec=008&linechart=ELEC.GEN.ALL-NV-98.Q~ELEC.GEN.COW-NV-98.Q~ELEC.GEN.NG-NV-98.Q~ELEC.GEN.HYC-NV-98.Q~ELEC.GEN.SUN-NV-98.Q~ELEC.GEN.WND-NV-98.Q~~ELEC.GEN.GEO-NV-98.Q&columnchart=ELEC.GEN.ALL-NV-98.Q&map=ELEC.GEN.ALL-NV-98.Q&freq=Q&chartindexed=0&ctype=linechart&ltype=pin&rtype=s&pin=ELEC.GEN.NG-WI-99.Q&rse=0&maptype=0 https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/#/topic/0?agg=2...
hibikir 1y ago
Because fast to deploy in theory fights quickly with permitting systems and NIMBYism. You need more permits, because a typical solar or wind farm doesn't come close to a nuclear plan's output, so the per-project bureaucracy multiplies. By needing more places, you also have more groups opposing projects for typical NIMBY reasons. You need battery facilities too, and more updates to the grid to deal with having less inertia, and the updates cost money, and the battery facilities themselves face more NIMBYism: Minimum distances to places where people live and such. So when you put it all together, slow bureaucracies just move at glacial paces, and the equipment you would have bought when you sent out the permit is already different than what you want to use when the permitting is approved. Then we have the tariffs, as Europe puts tariffs on Chinese equipment that change the price quite a bit. A country that took this very seriously and decided to put renewables as a top priority could go quite fast. But if there's anything one should learn about the last few decades is that modern democracies care too much about vested interest and NIMBY complaints to actually get projects like this done. Just look at charts showing power waiting to go online in most countries: You'll find very long lines, even after dealing with the rest of the the bureaucratic gauntlet.
oneshtein 1y ago
Quote: The winters in Germany are often colder and the country's climate is generally more continental. The south of France enjoys warmer Mediterranean temperatures and milder winters.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]

kieranmaine 1y ago

> It's really a question that should be directed at renewables: "If renewables are so cheap and fast to deploy, how come 39 years after Chernobyl, Germany still cannot get below France in CO2 emission?" Because renewables and storage have only been produced at the scale and price required to achieve this for the last 5 years. [1] The following article "Solar electricity every hour of every day is here and it changes everything"[2] is an interesting demonstration of how solar + batteries is pushing other generation sources to the periphery in most of the world. Edit: Here is some more data for Brazil and the UK showing a large increase in solar over the last 5 years [3][4] 1. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/solar-power-continues-to-surge-in-2024/ https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/solar-power-continu... 2. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/solar-electricity-every-hour-of-every-day-is-here-and-it-changes-everything/ https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/solar-electricity-e... 3. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/wind-and-solar-generate-over-a-third-of-brazils-electricity-for-the-first-month-on-record/ https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/wind-and-solar-gene... 4.https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/a-record-year-for-british-solar/ https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/a-record-year-for-b...

strawhatguy 1y ago
just looked at 2, using their own numbers, and it says 97% to 24/365, in a sunny area (Las Vegas), which is like an outage 43 minutes out of every day (24 * 0.03 * 60). That's not what many would consider as 24/365, and certainly not "every hour of every day".
- kieranmaine 1y ago
  The report mentions this: > Las Vegas can reach 97% of the way to 1 GW constant supply. My take away from the report is not that 24/365 is achieveable everywhere, but how solar + batteries is rapidly dropping in price and is now cheaper with other forms of generation, which will result in solar + batteries making up the majority of generation on the grid. > In a sunny city like Las Vegas, the estimated Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) at this 97% benchmark is $104/MWh. This is already 22% lower than the $132/MWh estimate based on global average capital costs of solar and battery a year earlier. It is also more cost-effective than coal in many regions ($118/MWh) and far cheaper than nuclear ($182/MWh).
  - strawhatguy 1y ago
    I guess, but this article seems misleading to me then. The percentages do seem to mean to constant 1GW supply, not a total supply. So what’s the total supply? LV is ~9 Gwh per day (3.3Twh year according to internets), so 23ish Gwh does seem promising, but they don’t have near that much solar I don’t think. I guess Im more skeptical, especially when this is coming from a single purpose advocacy group. They just shut down that solar thermal electric plant after all. While that’s different than photovoltaics I know, it’s also true no grand plan survives implementation.
    - kieranmaine 1y ago
      > I guess Im more skeptical, especially when this is coming from a single purpose advocacy group I agree it's unlikely you'll just have solar + batteries used just for LV. However, taking a look at the adoption of storage in California and Texas, I think it's safe to assume an upwards trajectory for solar + batteries [1]. I didn't know much about Nevada's electricity generation, but based on current data [1] there are enough alternative sources to support a sizeable increase in solar generation. Still, I don't know how much solar will be deployed and I hope nuclear does drop in price in order to speed up the energy transistion. It's exciting to see so many great technological leaps in our lifetimes. Finally, a shout out to geothermal, which looks very promising. I recommend listening to "Catching up with enhanced geothermal " - https://www.volts.wtf/p/catching-up-with-enhanced-geothermal https://www.volts.wtf/p/catching-up-with-enhanced-geothermal. 1. https://www.gridstatus.io/live/caiso?date=2025-09-14 https://www.gridstatus.io/live/caiso?date=2025-09-14 2. https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/#/topic/0?agg=2,0,1&fuel=vvvvu&geo=00000000002&sec=008&linechart=ELEC.GEN.ALL-NV-98.Q~ELEC.GEN.COW-NV-98.Q~ELEC.GEN.NG-NV-98.Q~ELEC.GEN.HYC-NV-98.Q~ELEC.GEN.SUN-NV-98.Q~ELEC.GEN.WND-NV-98.Q~~ELEC.GEN.GEO-NV-98.Q&columnchart=ELEC.GEN.ALL-NV-98.Q&map=ELEC.GEN.ALL-NV-98.Q&freq=Q&chartindexed=0&ctype=linechart&ltype=pin&rtype=s&pin=ELEC.GEN.NG-WI-99.Q&rse=0&maptype=0 https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/#/topic/0?agg=2...

hibikir 1y ago

Because fast to deploy in theory fights quickly with permitting systems and NIMBYism. You need more permits, because a typical solar or wind farm doesn't come close to a nuclear plan's output, so the per-project bureaucracy multiplies. By needing more places, you also have more groups opposing projects for typical NIMBY reasons. You need battery facilities too, and more updates to the grid to deal with having less inertia, and the updates cost money, and the battery facilities themselves face more NIMBYism: Minimum distances to places where people live and such. So when you put it all together, slow bureaucracies just move at glacial paces, and the equipment you would have bought when you sent out the permit is already different than what you want to use when the permitting is approved. Then we have the tariffs, as Europe puts tariffs on Chinese equipment that change the price quite a bit. A country that took this very seriously and decided to put renewables as a top priority could go quite fast. But if there's anything one should learn about the last few decades is that modern democracies care too much about vested interest and NIMBY complaints to actually get projects like this done. Just look at charts showing power waiting to go online in most countries: You'll find very long lines, even after dealing with the rest of the the bureaucratic gauntlet.

oneshtein 1y ago

Quote: The winters in Germany are often colder and the country's climate is generally more continental. The south of France enjoys warmer Mediterranean temperatures and milder winters.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]