Nuclear vs Solar
Researchers from Middle East Technical University (Turkey) have performed a comparison of two large scale power plants, a nuclear plant and a solar photovoltaic plant. Results showed that the nuclear plant produces more energy (9 times more) and requires less land (about a quarter of the land needed for the photovoltaic plant). The nuclear plant has, however, a much longer decommissioning time (30 years vs. 1) and a worse payback time (more than 30 years vs. 15).
Decoded Science 9th April 2015 read more »
Proliferation
PRESIDENT OBAMA’S defense of his emerging nuclear deal with Iran as a “once in a lifetime opportunity” reminds his critics of an earlier landmark agreement, intended to end the threat of a nuclear-armed North Korea. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and others have argued that the eventual collapse of that agreement, resulting in North Korea’s building nuclear weapons, proves that a deal with Tehran is a big mistake. Those of us who negotiated the North Korea deal know that important lessons can be learned from that experience. But they are not the ones based on the critics’ fundamental misreading of history.
New York Times 10th April 2015 read more »
US – Radwaste
Nevada Rep. Cresent Hardy, who joined a pro-Yucca Mountain congressional site visit this past week, recently asked the question, “Is there a scenario in which Nevadans would actually welcome nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain?” (“Time for Nevada to talk Yucca Mountain,” March 22 Review-Journal). The answer to that question is an emphatic “no” for one simple yet unavoidable reason: Because Yucca Mountain is an unsafe place for storing or disposing deadly nuclear waste and was selected for purely political reasons having nothing to do with science or suitability. There is nothing for state officials to negotiate. In fact, our leaders would be remiss in their duty to protect the public and the environment to entertain the notion that any amount of dollars could possibly compensate for likely grievous and lethal harm from siting a facility in such an unsafe location as Yucca Mountain.
Las Vegas Journal 12th April 2015 read more »
Trident
Decommissioning Trident nuclear weapons would be popular with voters and supported by a majority of candidates standing in the general election, luminaries from music, the arts and the legal world have claimed. Despite the two main parties’ insistence last week that they would both renew Britain’s nuclear deterrent, the strategy is described as a relic from the past in a letter published in the Observer. Among the signatories to the open letter – which suggests that Britain should become the first member of the UN security council to give up nuclear weapons – are comedian Frankie Boyle, Mercury prizewinning band Young Fathers, the former president of the Royal Society, Sir Michael Atiyah, and lawyer and Labour peer Baroness Kennedy. They write: “The election campaign to date suggests that decommissioning Trident nuclear weapons is a dangerous, minority demand led by the SNP, the Greens and Plaid Cymru.
Observer 11th April 2015 read more »
ITV 12th April 2015 read more »
The election campaign to date suggests that decommissioning Trident nuclear weapons is a dangerous, minority demand led by the SNP, the Greens and Plaid Cymru. Yet poll after poll reveals that it is in fact a majority popular demand throughout the UK. One poll recently revealed that 81% of 500 general election candidates are opposed to renewal. There are increasingly obvious reasons why we think it’s time to move on from Trident.
Observer 11th April 2015 read more »
THE SNP will try to exploit internal Labour divisions on Trident and cause such a headache for Ed Miliband that he will either opt to postpone renewal or cancel it if he becomes Prime Minister after the general election.
Herald 12th April 2015 read more »
Renewables – solar
For years it’s accounted for only a tiny proportion of Scotland’s renewable energy production, but the plummeting price of solar panels has galvanised investment in the sector and the country’s first industrial-sized solar farm could now be built within the next 12 months, with several projects jostling to be the first to complete. Until now, solar energy generation in Scotland has – with the exception of a £1.2 million ‘solar meadow’ installed at Edinburgh College in 2013 – been almost entirely confined to small scale domestic or community developments which have seen solar panels being installed on the rooftops and outside walls of south-facing homes, schools and even prisons. But, over the last nine months, eight commercial projects varying in size between 1.8MW and 19MW have been granted planning permission in Aberdeenshire, Angus, Perth & Kinross and Dumfries & Galloway. Further large scale solar projects are also being planned for Borders and Fife, which – compared with northern and western areas of Scotland – enjoy greater sunlight radiation.
Herald 12th April 2015 read more »
Energy Storage
Elon Musk, a South African-born entrepreneur who made a colossal pile from PayPal and has been doing interesting things in non-IT fields ever since. The world knows him most for his creation of Tesla, the company that makes high-end electric cars, and SpaceX, an outfit that specialises in what really is rocket science. But probably the most interesting thing about Musk is that he has focused on solving the problem that keeps us in a world that depends utterly on electricity but lacks a way of storing it efficiently and cost-effectively: the problem of battery technology. For some time, Musk has been building a huge factory to make such batteries and he is widely believed to be planning a major announcement on 30 April. Until recently, most people assumed that his new factory would be making improved batteries merely for powering electric vehicles. But if the rumour mill is correct, Musk has set his sights higher – on new battery technology that would make it possible efficiently to store the quantities of electric power needed to run modern homes. If he has indeed managed to do something like that, then it would be a game-changer on an epochal scale.
Guardian 11th April 2015 read more »
Fossil Fuels
Shell has made an audacious swoop on its troubled rival BG in the belief that gas is the carbon fuel of the future.
Times 12th April 2015 read more »
