The Costs of Replacing Nuclear Capacity

Whenever anyone tells you that we can replace nuclear energy completely with renewable sources of energy, keep these following stats in mind.

From the Times (U.K.):

To replace a 1,000 megawatt (MW) nuclear station supplying just 1/65th of peak demand requires 30 miles of wave machines; or it would need a wind farm that would cover an area equivalent to Inner London, or for solar power, it would require an area half as much again. If we were to try to replace the output of that 1,000MW nuclear power station with bio-oils or biomass fuels, we would have to cover the entire Scottish Highlands with oil-seed rape or turn Wales into a giant willow coppice.

We need a balanced energy portfolio that includes clean coal, gas, hydro and renewables. Future demand for electricity is going to grow too fast, both domestically and globally, for it to be any other way. Thanks to Synthstuff for the link.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Environment, Energy, Politics, Technology, Economics

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