tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post812713580487421522..comments2024-03-07T02:00:01.582-05:00Comments on NEI Nuclear Notes: Green Lantern’s LightUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-91270288984548390042010-08-11T10:21:03.280-04:002010-08-11T10:21:03.280-04:00"You mean you actually need to build wind tur...<i>"You mean you actually need to build wind turbines and solar panels? Gee, I thought they just sprung full-grown out of the mud of the Earth..."</i><br /><br />Well, that's obviously what the developers want you to think. Why else do you think that they call them "wind <em>farms</em>"?<br /><br />If there was any way to have those things declared <a href="http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=ORGANIC_CERTIFICATIO&navtype=RT&parentnav=AGRICULTURE" rel="nofollow">Certified Organic</a>, I'm willing to bet they would do so. For now, they'll just have to wait until the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_solar_cell" rel="nofollow">organic solar cell</a> catches on.Brian Mayshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13962229896535398120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-25433803899157457842010-08-11T09:47:47.040-04:002010-08-11T09:47:47.040-04:00You mean you actually need to build wind turbines ...You mean you actually need to build wind turbines and solar panels? Gee, I thought they just sprung full-grown out of the mud of the Earth...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-64148014512493952482010-08-10T18:40:44.652-04:002010-08-10T18:40:44.652-04:00"But nuclear energy isn't really a zero-c..."But nuclear energy isn't really a zero-carbon system, since you still have to build power plants, mine and enrich uranium, and transport processed fuel, all of which typically rely on CO2-emitting fuel sources."<br /><br />The best part about this is, by relying more on nuclear power, the amount of CO2-emitting fuel sources needed to enrich uranium will decrease, since enrichment just needs electricity and doesn't care from whence that electricity comes. (As long as it's cheap and reliable.)<br /><br />But anyway, good luck with that magic process that generates wind turbines and solar panels with no carbon footprint.<br /><br />Or transporting them:<br />http://blog.energy.gov/blog/2010/07/27/kahuku-wind-power-7700-oahu-homes<br /><br />Or installing those transmission lines:<br />http://blog.energy.gov/blog/2010/08/02/skycrane-bonneville-power-administration<br /><br />...Nothing is a zero-carbon system. If nuclear's tiny lifecycle carbon footprint is a drawback, then there is no hope for any electricity source.<br /><br />http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Greenhouse_emissions_by_electricity_source.PNGJDnoreply@blogger.com