We are running out of time to decarbonize the planet
It all started when one of our ancestors was making rock music and got a fire going. Humans have increased the global average concentration of carbon dioxide from 280 to 416 parts per million in the air, by burning fuels for energy.
It is easy to burn wood, coal, oil, or gas, releasing molecules of carbon emissions, but it is very hard to capture and store carbon emissions.
Old-growth forests capture and store massive amounts of carbon every day. Mature trees are the experts, with thousands of leaves in their canopies. Big Timber cut down most old-growth forests, destroying the best way to remove carbon. Unfortunately, Weyerhaeuser says, “Timberlands make the most of a renewable resource.”
Man-made carbon emissions are warming the planet at a rapid pace, creating life-threatening weather events. If your family suffered in 2020, you are not going to like 2021 nor the years ahead.
What must we do?
Today, the best use of the forests is storing carbon. Ecologists and conservation experts know the prevailing way of protecting the forests is to take 10 steps back and look for arsonists. Bears, squirrels, and birds belong in the forests. Enjoy the forests, “Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time.” – John Muir.
We must stop burning trees, coal, gas, and oil to stop carbon emissions. The transportation and energy sectors are the main sources of carbon emissions.
Electricity production generates the second largest share of greenhouse gas emissions. Over 60 percent of our electricity comes from burning fossil fuels, mostly coal and natural gas. Clean energy generation to keep the lights on and charge electric vehicles increases our chances of survival. We can’t stop carbon emissions with just energy storage, solar, and wind. Nuclear energy is part of the solution.
Distributed clean energy generation and storage
We have several sources of scalable clean energy to replace fossil fuels and wood pellets to stop carbon emissions: nuclear, solar, and wind.
Nuclear energy is clean energy. The 2020’s small modular reactors are superior to the 1960’s nuclear power plants. Like all nuclear facilities, the design, construction, and use of SMRs are highly regulated. SMR fast reactors are designed to reduce the amount of waste produced with fuel replaced at 18-months intervals. Depleted fuel is stored onsite in secure containers.
SMRs are 10 to 300 megawatt modular standard designs. These are nuclear fission reactors with passive safety systems, built in special facilities, transported and assembled on site. Think of a “nuclear reactor in a box,” delivered on a flatbed. SMRs are designed for distributed power generation and are compatible with solar and wind microgrids.
Smart money
In 2006, Bill Gates founded TerraPower, a pioneer SMR company. Last August, TerraPower and GE Hitachi Nuclear announced a molten salt storage, giving five hours of storage and a sodium fast reactor.
Duke Energy will retire all coal-only units in North and South Carolina, multiply its renewable portfolio, and stop methane emissions by 2030. Duke Energy’s clean energy transition is a 7% rate-based growth investment strategy.
Clean strategy
Nuclear energy is required to protect our future. The strategy is to keep existing nuclear power plants running for as long as possible, build more to replace coal and gas, and accelerate the adoption of SMRs.
We are running out of time. Not having a future is very difficult to grasp but ignoring the reality is not an option. We must prevail, and there is hope.
Last week, New York Gov. Cuomo announced an expanded clean energy standard to decarbonize New York’s power sector.
Portland General Electric announced the end of coal-fired power generation in Oregon. “Our customers are counting on us to deliver a clean energy future,” PGE President and CEO Maria Pope said, “to reliably serve our customers with a clean and sustainable energy mix.”
What now?
Vote for our future, vote for clean energy!
Dr. Luis Contreras
Electric power plants can’t be measured in megawatts alone when comparing sources of energy.
Wind and solar power farms are unable to replace power plants burning wood and fossil fuels
Wind and solar power have very low “capacity credit,” the ability to replace power plants running around the clock at constant output. Solar energy varies during the day and wind energy varies during the night.
In the UK, the windiest country in Europe, the Royal Academy of Engineering projects that 25,000 MW of wind power will reduce the need for conventional power capacity by 4,000 MW, a 16% capacity credit.
Two studies in Germany projected that 48,000 MW of wind power will allow reducing conventional capacity by only 2,000 MW, a 4% capacity credit.
The Irish Grid found 3,500 MW of wind power could replace 496 MW of conventional power, a 14% capacity credit. As more wind turbines are added, their capacity credit approaches zero.
The New York State Energy Research & Development Authority found onshore wind power would have a 10% capacity credit.
You can’t buy a red truck just because you like the color. You have to look under the hood, please don’t kick the tires. Get an electric truck and ask for the driving range … they also come in red
https://www.wind-watch.org/faq-output.php
Forbes says “The World Needs Nuclear Power, And We Shouldn’t Be Afraid Of It”
To stay below 2C, science says: stop burning, nuclear is safe.
Air pollution from burning wood pellets in the UK made from greenwood in the Southeast US forests, increases the mortality rate of COVID-19
Note: The Forbes October 21, 2020 is not based on “What now” which was submitted on October 19, 2020
https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/10/21/the-world-needs-nuclear-power-and-we-shouldnt-be-afraid-of-it/
The world needs nuclear power – split atoms, stop burning!
Solar and wind are low energy density solutions.
Nuclear energy is clean high energy density. To avoid global warming beyond 2°C, nuclear energy is required.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2019/07/11/why-the-world-needs-nuclear-power/#6494cca47bd6
Energy density is an important concept.
Nuclear power plants run 24/7 generating power all the time.
Energy density measures how much energy is generated given a certain mass of fuel.
The energy density of nuclear fuel is millions of times higher than burning carbon fuels like wood, coal, or gas. Combustion is a chemical process. Fission is a nuclear process releasing massive amounts of energy when the nucleus of Uranium splits.
The effective nuclear energy density is 4 million mega joules per kilogram,
You don’t need to know the details … this is Rocket Science
Are you worried about Mar-a-Lago?
What is wrong with these people?
https://e360.yale.edu/features/as-miami-keeps-building-rising-seas-deepen-its-social-divide/
Have you been inside a coal-fired power plant?
Please see and listen what is threatening life on Earth, what the GOP bailed out in 2020
https://earthjustice.org/video/b-roll-coal-fired-power-plants/
Funds are available to keep current nuclear plants, extend their life, and build new small modular reactors
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottcarpenter/2020/09/30/when-nuclear-plants-ask-for-money-states-find-they-cant-afford-to-say-no/#3786dde34b9b
Do we need nuclear energy?
Please listen to the TED 2010 debate between two energy experts.
Stewart Brand and Mark Z. Jacobson square off over the pros and cons.
Stewart Brand is a well-known enviro, who changed his mind on nuclear waste. Air pollution and plastic pollution are killing people. Micro-plastics are in the food chain. Radiation is regulated and stored on-site.
Nuclear scientists looking for ways to recycle it.
15 years ago, Jacobson wrote “The Solutions Project” with extensive data from air pollution. He has a plan based on solar and wind energy, but no solutions. Stating the percent of the energy needed in every country is an academic exercise based on old data and ideas. The fact is nothing has changed, we are stuck burning fuels
In 2020 the answer is YES, know we are running out of time
https://youtu.be/UK8ccWSZkic
On a CNN op-ed Redford asks: “When the campaign merry-go-round finally stops, when the cycle of charges and countercharges finally ceases, we can turn to the subjects we haven’t discussed. And we can begin to answer the question … what do we do now?”
Nuclear clean energy is needed to stop carbon emissions from burning wood, coal, and gas
This is our best option, solar and wind alone do not have the capacity to replace the power plants fueled by coal and gas, 63 percent of the electricity produced every year.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/09/opinions/robert-redford-what-do-we-do-now-climate-change/index.html/