Category Archives: Energy

What does research say about the safety of nuclear power?

Posted on March 10, 2017 by

I’ve been answering almost exactly the same answer to multiple discussions where people make claims about the safety of nuclear power, so I think it’s time to create a single post with collected information, links, and explanations. This is intended to … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecomodernism, Energy, Nuclear energy & weapons, What they aren't telling you about nuclear power | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

“Environmental NGOs knew the truth about climate change”

Posted on March 1, 2017 by

Note: This text from 2043 has been delivered to me through a curious spacetime anomaly. Hopefully it only represents one possible future, not the future. Multiple self-styled “environmental” organizations issued stark warnings of the catastrophic risks of their energy plans more than … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, What they aren't telling you about nuclear power | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Stall warning for renewable energy?

Posted on February 21, 2017 by

A model that estimated the plateauing of nuclear and hydropower to within 20 percent of reality suggests that absent a technological breakthrough, the growth of new renewable energy – that is, wind and solar – will saturate and end when these new … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, History of technology | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

100% renewables and 100% nuclear are both practically impossible

Posted on November 14, 2016 by

I’ve been following with interest how some nuclear power advocates are suggesting that building anything else than nuclear power is sidetracking us from the climate goals. These advocates claim that variable, non-dispatchable renewables will not be ultimately capable of delivering … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecomodernism, Economy and the Environment, Energy, Innovation, Nuclear energy & weapons, Scarcities and constraints | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

The bubble of traditional environmentalism has burst; long live pragmatic environmentalism

Posted on November 10, 2016 by

In case any more confirmation was needed, 11/9 (or 9.11. for us Euros) was the final nail to the coffin of traditional environmentalism – at least when it comes to stopping the existential threat of climate change. For years now, established … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecomodernism, Economy and the Environment, Energy | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Why we don’t have the luxury of saying no to low-carbon energy, in one chart

Posted on October 17, 2016 by

I’ve long maintained that the climate crisis is so acute that humanity simply does not have the luxury of picking and choosing which low-carbon energy sources we’d use. That option was foreclosed perhaps two decades ago, but the idea that … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecomodernism, Economy and the Environment, Energy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A Response to Lawrence, Sovacool, and Stirling. (Reblogged)

Posted on October 12, 2016 by

In the following post, Nicholas Thompson performs a very good examination of the much-publicized study that sought to “prove” commitment to nuclear power slows down CO2 emission reductions. Well, turns out the paper suffers from a basic math error – … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Nuclear energy & weapons | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment