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Climate Gamble: Is Anti-Nuclear Activism Endangering our Future?
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Category Archives: Nuclear energy & weapons
100% renewables and 100% nuclear are both practically impossible
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
A Response to Lawrence, Sovacool, and Stirling. (Reblogged)
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 CO2 emissions, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Nuclear, Rebuttals, Research
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The gamble gamblers won’t take
Anti-nuclear activists say we should bet the fate of the planet on the assumption their energy scenarios are correct and everyone else is wrong. But when pressed in private, even they do not believe themselves. This is the realisation I … Continue reading
The Elon Musk approach to nuclear power costs
Recently, I read an interesting piece about the reasoning process used by the man behind Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk: first principles reasoning. In this mode of thinking, espoused by Aristotle among others, one begins from the “first principles” or … Continue reading
Finnish version of “Climate Gamble” now out!
A shortish treatise on climate change and nuclear power, Uhkapeli ilmastolla – vaarantaako ydinvoiman vastustus maailman tulevaisuuden? (Climate Gamble – is anti-nuclear movement endangering the world’s future?) is now in press and can be pre-ordered here. The book discusses the state of climate … Continue reading
Posted in Economy and the Environment, My publications, Nuclear energy & weapons
Tagged Energy, Nuclear
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Graphic of the Week: Can nuclear plants load-follow?
…nuclear power can and does “load-follow” as the load in the power grid fluctuates. By doing so, it helps balance out large fluctuations in the production of variable renewables. So, far from being the obstacle to renewable deployment as often claimed, nuclear power seems to be a quite critical part of it. Continue reading
Posted in Economy and the Environment, Infographics, Nuclear energy & weapons
Tagged Germany, Infographics, Load-following, Nuclear
5 Comments
Graphic of the Week: How fast has low-carbon energy been built?
This data, and other evidence, make it puzzling how one of the most common refrains against using nuclear power to combat climate change is still that it is too slow. Surely, those people cannot be saying that renewables are by implication far too slow? Continue reading
Posted in Economy and the Environment, Energy, Infographics, Nuclear energy & weapons, What they aren't telling you about nuclear power
Tagged Belgium, Denmark, Energy, Finland, France, Germany, Graphic of the week, Infographics, Italy, Nuclear, Olkiluoto 3, Renewables, Solar, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, What they aren't telling you about nuclear, Wind
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Graphic of the Week: Estimates of world energy consumption to 2100, and renewables generation to 2050
The question, therefore, is this: should we gamble literally everything on the off chance that the most optimistic renewable energy proposal has it right, and that the most optimistic energy demand estimate is also correct? Continue reading
Posted in Economy and the Environment, Energy, Infographics, Nuclear energy & weapons
Tagged Energy, Graphic of the week, Infographics, IPCC, Nuclear, Renewables, SRREN
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Finnish Greens propose burning more forests as alternative to more nuclear
A climate warrior’s solution would have been to push for energy efficiency measures in addition to nuclear power plant. Perhaps they could have been made a condition for plant’s acceptance. But the Green’s dogmatic opposition to nuclear has robbed us of this chance. Continue reading
Posted in Nuclear energy & weapons
Tagged climate change, climate policy, Finland, Renewables
8 Comments
Space system “Shuttle,” part of USA’s nuclear attack arsenal?
The story of a white elephant colloquially known as the Space Shuttle is familiar to most students of the history of technology. The shuttle was originally touted as a cheap way to access space: being mostly reusable, it would … Continue reading
Posted in History of technology, Nuclear energy & weapons, SETI, Aliens & Space
Tagged Buran, Cold War, Nuclear weapons, Soviet Union, Space, Space Shuttle, USA
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