Getting Out Of Nuclear Will Cost Us

[doug]

Finally, theoretically solar still collects power even when the "sun isn't shining." Even on a cloudy night, solar energy is being reflected off of the moon and is strong enough to make its way through the clouds. If it didn't, all life on earth would cease to exist every time the sun went down.

uhhh....

Full disclosure: Science was never my strongest field,

Ah, nevermind.

 

[js97]

'Green Energy' is actually not as environmentally friendly as most people think.
Solar power is no where near efficient enough of a technology to be widely used.

Instead of creating a make work industry, the government should have put the money into research and development. Have a conversation with an individual that works in the 'green energy' industry. You'll quickly realise it's all about money.


DId you know that Solar Panels contain many toxic mineral that will leach into your ground water and soil, and that the 'green energy act' does not deal with the disposal and handling of this stuff after its useful lifespan?

Unfortunately, nuclear energy is the most realistic option to maintain our power hungry lifestyles. From charging that iPhone to typing on your computer on this board, with the servers and super coolents that keep it going

 

[doug]

DId you know that Solar Panels contain many toxic mineral that will leach into your ground water and soil,

What minerals would those be?

Did you know that the manufacture of semiconductors, such as LEDs takes a huge toll on the environment?

From charging that iPhone to typing on your computer on this board, with the servers and super coolents that keep it going

Super coolant? You think this board runs on a cray?

 

[Mongo]

Super coolant? You think this board runs on a cray?

Actually, I believe that a typical PC of today is far mor powerful than the 1970s Cray-1 supercomputer.

(performs Google-fu)

This Cray-1 PC Replica Has 200,000 Times the Power of the Original Cray-1

The Cray-1 was the fastest supercomputer in 1976. Today, even the iPad dwarfs its humble 133 megaflops and a fast PC can easily surpass 100 gigaflops.

 

[Marko]

What minerals would those be?

Did you know that the manufacture of semiconductors, such as LEDs takes a huge toll on the environment?

...and mining the rare earth materials for windmill generators is not exactly sparkling clean either. It adds to things I've said previously that you usually can't make one thing clean without making something else more dirty. Being 'green' is much more about a different kind of green than it is about genuine environmentalism. It takes from one and moves to another, in more ways than one.

 

[vegeta_skyline]

All very true. As Paleo noted, nothing is without some kind of drawback.

Nuclear obviously has some very large ones. But considering the available options, anyone without an agenda can see there is a place for it in Ontario and the world.

 

[EnviroTO]

I think nuclear is definitely something we should keep using as a replacement to other non-renewable and carbon emitting energy sources. Work needs to be done on proper disposal. The uranium arrives as ore with a certain natural radioactivity. If it can be returned to the ground after use with a lower radioactivity and similar configuration then the use of uranium should leave less radioactivity than what naturally occurred. I wouldn't want to see Canada go the route of fast breeder reactors where the goal is maximum energy release because that means the risks are higher. With Candu type reactors we have the benefit of a safer operation, and the ability to use less refined fuel which, although maybe not as efficient, means fuel is easier to find and risk of meltdown is very low.

Finally, theoretically solar still collects power even when the "sun isn't shining." Even on a cloudy night, solar energy is being reflected off of the moon and is strong enough to make its way through the clouds. If it didn't, all life on earth would cease to exist every time the sun went down.

Um, no. The fact there is an atmosphere means that when the sun is on the other side of the planet enough heat remains until the sun comes up again. If life would cease simply by not having solar energy then entering a room with no windows and no light would be fatal, which obviously is not the case.

 

[Electrify]

uhhh....




Ah, nevermind.

LOL!!! In fairness too, I was posting fairly late so I didn't have the energy to do too much research and review before posting.

Another thing about wind and solar worth discussing is its ability to be decentralized. Imagine if we made it mandatory that all new suburban homes had to have a solar panel on the roof and a wind turbine in the back yard. We might still need nuclear, but the ability to create and store your own energy could reduce the load on nuclear significantly.

 

[Marko]

LOL!!! In fairness too, I was posting fairly late so I didn't have the energy to do too much research and review before posting.

Another thing about wind and solar worth discussing is its ability to be decentralized. Imagine if we made it mandatory that all new suburban homes had to have a solar panel on the roof and a wind turbine in the back yard. We might still need nuclear, but the ability to create and store your own energy could reduce the load on nuclear significantly.

We'd save more energy (and thus be more green) by mandating efficiency, rather than using the same or more power with more expensive technology.

 

[Electrify]

And while I may not be the next Nobel Prize winning scientist, at least I can admit it and even laugh at it, unlike this guy (who happens to live in my area...) who feels the need to prove himself "smarter" than all of us who understand and respect those who do know a thing or two about science:

Making light of the phony Earth Hour
BY JOE WARMINGTON, TORONTO SUN

It's unclear how many GTA homes will partake in turning off their lights to honour Earth Hour Saturday.

But don't count in the Menzies in the collective, self-imposed blackout!

"We will not be in the dark," journalist and conservative commentator David Menzies said Thursday.

Instead, what you will find is a giant beacon in the sky emanating from his Richmond Hill street between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m.

"While everybody else has their lights off I will have every light in my house on," said Menzies, as he prepared for his second installment in mocking the "phony" Earth Hour movement.

He's also gone a step further.

"I have rented four rotating Hollywood movie lights which will light up the sky for miles," he said.

"I don't need to give you my address because all you need to do is look to the sky."

Last year the lights attracted people down to the darkened street, sans that one home.

"A lot of people who followed the lights came in and all they saw was a guy out with his kids having a barbecue," he said laughing. "It went so well we are going to do it again."

There will be no need for a flashlight at this springtime BBQ.

Menzies, a regular contributor to the John Oakley and Charles Adler shows on AM 640 and on Michael Coren's TV show, relishes sticking it to the global-warming-gurus who he believes have been blowing environmental Armageddon smoke for years.

"All it is, is income and wealth distribution propagated by former Communists and socialists looking for something to do," he said of the movement.

"What's it called this week? Climate change? Next it will be global icing."

Of course, the always colourful Menzies is having some fun making the point of the hypocrisy of Earth Hour and the Cadillac conservationists who push it.

It's them, and the double-speak of the high-polluting, resource-dependent multinational corporations sponsoring it, that got him off his couch to organize an unofficial anti-Earth Hour.

"It's a joke because after Earth Hour is over everybody will go back to doing what they always do including the celebrities jumping back on their corporate jets."

That's why he has created his own way to honour it.

"Let's just say I am re-branding Earth Hour," he said. "I am calling mine Human Achievement Hour."

The achievement is that in a capitalistic society he was able to achieve owning a home, having the ability to have power, to own a fossil-fuel burning car and be able to provide heating and electricity for his wife and children.

"The best part is they can't stop me because it's my property, my power, my money and I live in a free society," he said.

"You want to see darkness? Fly over North Korea and you will see the success of not having enough electricity to turn on the lights."

Last year he said he had several "hippies" drop in and ask, "why?"

"I offered them a hamburger but none of them took me up on it," he said.

"This year I will make sure I have some veggie ones on the grill and maybe some tofu sausages, too."

Wonder if Dr. David Suzuki will drop by?

"Probably not, Scrawler," said a colleague. "Not unless there is grant money available or a fee." joe.warmington@sunmedia.ca

http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/joe_warmington/2011/03/24/17744251.html

 

[doug]

the ability to create and store your own energy

Energy can't be created or destroyed.

Energy storage has been the holy grail for a long time....that's part of the problem, it's not easy to store electrical energy.

 

[Electrify]

Let me rephrase, 'capture' green energy, convert it to electrical, and store it in batteries.

 

[EMP1729]

Yes, storing electricity is difficult. But consider this:

During the tourist season, the two hydroelectric plants on the Niagara River (Robert Moses, Sir Adam Beck, ) are not allowed to use the flow of the river to generate electricity during the day. It doesn't look good for the tourists when the flow of the Niagara river is half of what it normally is. They are allowed to use the flow of the river during the night only, which if you have gone fishing or hiking at the Niagara gorge, you will notice that the water level drops at night.

That poses a problem, right? Demand for electricity is higher in the day, and it seems counterproductive to only allow diversion of the water at night. So what does the OPG and New York Power Authority do? They divert the river at night, storing all of that water in huge reservoirs in order to use it during the day. That is how you store electricity.

As well, in places like West Virginia and Upstate New York, where there are mountains and hills, it is not uncommon to pump water up a mountain, to be used to generate electricity later.

So how does that apply to wind and solar? You do the same thing. You use the electricity generated by the sun and wind to either compress air or pump water up a height so that it can be used later to drive a generator and convert it back to electricity when needed. There are a number of other ways to "store" electricity, the point is to develop technologies to do this as efficiently as possible.

The question though, is why go through that exercise? There are obvious cheaper alternatives - coal and natural gas, but you need to ask yourself, are we willing to pay for cleaner air, better health and a renewable and secure energy source? I suppose the answer right now, is No.

 

[vz64]

Nothing is without its drawbacks. Geothermal is currently suspected of causing increased seismic activity at drilling sites. I don't think many around here would go for that.

Care to elaborate? Source? If it were true, the doomsday would be upon us considering amount of drilling done by oil/gas industry... and the geothermal drilling is only 80-200 ft deep, (for rural areas a horizontal loop can be as shallow as 10 ft). Our house has geothermal system installed and it works great! Even in the hottest days of this summer it uses a fraction of energy that a high efficiency AC would use...

 

[vegeta_skyline]

Just goggle up 'geothermal seismic activity' or read the wiki article on 'Induced seismicity' (they have references). There's a fair amount of information out there on this phenomena. Most of the resulting earthquakes associated with it are small although there are a few instances of more powerful quakes which also happened in previously stable geological regions. Researchers are pretty confident though, that in the future they will be ably to largely eliminate or mitigate such events.