John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY IRINA SLAV IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
“Even China Isn’t Able to Make Solar & Wind Work
“Expensive, land-hungry, inconstant, and still more polluting than either gas or atomic”
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Response to a comment saying, “Nuclear has always been the answer. When all these wind turbines and solar panels wear out in 25 years, they will not be replaced. By then, the advantages of nuclear will be obvious”
Definitely. And important advances are being made in nuclear power generation.
There are so many shortcomings with these alternates, starting with the fact that wind turbines cannot create "baseload power,” the power that assures you that no matter what time of the day you flip a switch, the lights will go on.
They must always be backed up by something else, such as gas-fired power.
The turbines have also demonstrated significant weaknesses in some environments. And they are expensive.
And they kill a hell of a lot of migrating birds.
Solar is great for limited special applications, but it just won't do for a base supply under most circumstances.
Maybe a new, more efficient technology will come along, but it remains only a hope, like new technologies for storage batteries,
Obviously if we had efficient, easily installed, durable roof systems for each building and we had a super-duper storage battery in the basement, we'd have a revolution in energy supply, making many central generating plants (nuclear or otherwise) and many transmission lines unnecessary.
Maybe that will come, but it's not here.
