Comments on: Getting to the Truth: Pulling the Curtain Back on False Solutions to Our Energy Crisis http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2009/02/28/getting-to-the-truth-pulling-the-curtain-back-on-false-solutions-to-our-energy-crisis/ Dispatches from the Youth Climate Movement Sun, 06 May 2012 08:12:09 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Michael Stuart http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2009/02/28/getting-to-the-truth-pulling-the-curtain-back-on-false-solutions-to-our-energy-crisis/#comment-71244 Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:07:01 +0000 http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/?p=9040#comment-71244 I’m not convinced that nuclear power can honestly be labeled a “false solution.” When weighing potential solutions, any business person would have to measure the benefits of an investment against its expenses. This is called “return on investment” or ROI. When evaluating investments on a fixed set of parameters, “true” and “false” solutions would then become self-evident.

To date, the US Government (AKA, us taxpayers) have invested a lot of money on a lot of different energy sources. I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but the vast majority of the investments have gone towards fossil fuels. There has also been significant investments in “alternative” energy sources, including wind, solar, geothermal, biofuels, nuclear fission, and nuclear fusion to name a few.

I’m not sure what calculational methods Paul Gunter is using, but checking in at 74% of the low-carbon electricity generated in this country (20% of the total electricity), and an operational cost of less than 2 cents per kw-hr, nuclear has the highest return on investment of any of the alternative energy sources to date. Nothing else comes close.

Of course, as Robert mentioned, nuclear has some issues to deal with, but when considering the much larger issue of climate change looming, these issues become reasonable. And they are certainly technically manageable, as the 435+ operational reactors in the world have been proving for nearly half a century.

]]> By: R Margolis http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2009/02/28/getting-to-the-truth-pulling-the-curtain-back-on-false-solutions-to-our-energy-crisis/#comment-71117 Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:43:18 +0000 http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/?p=9040#comment-71117 I must respectfully disagree with Mary Olsen and Paul Gunter. The ExternE study showed that nuclear has a low carbon footprint (a little more than wind, but much smaller than fossil fuels). If you define a “true solution” as one that has perfect justice, free of charge, free of any emissions, only built and operated by small non-profit cooperatives…well there is NO such thing.

Certainly nuclear is controversial and must be carefully managed (plutonium is NOT a breakfast food). However, it is safer than the current fossil fuel technologies and can supply 24/7 electricity in large amounts. Our low-carbon energy choices are all difficult or controversial (even putting up transmission lines for new solar and wind is meeting with political opposition). The solutions to carbon are likely to be a combination of the “false solutions” as well as the politically correct energy sources. :-)

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