Longtime readers will know of my love affair with nuclear power, and despite the aversion to cost and the arrival of earthquakes in Virginia, nuclear power still gives you the best bang for the buck — not only when it comes to consistent power sources, but clean energy sources as well.
Michael Shellenberger at TEDxBerlin in November 2017 gave an amazing talk regarding the viability of nuclear power and the contrast between Germany — considered the powerhouse of green energy — and their carbon impact vs. France, whose carbon impact is not only much less than Germany, but whose reliance on “dirty” energy is a fraction of Germany’s — whose reliance on “dirty” energy is up to 40% of their total energy output and twice as expensive as France’s energy rates.
The reason why? France overtly relies on nuclear power for its clean, cheap energy.
This is a 20 minute talk, but good to run on background as you are moving through your day — or worth a cup of coffee this evening. Shellenberger even deconstructs the Chernobyl and Fukushima events and puts them into context.
In short, nuclear energy is the way to go. Surprisingly, it is not entirely embraced by our friends in the energy industry, mostly due to the immense cost of building nuclear power plants in the United States.
Still, if one is truly concerned with the environment, or truly willing to make the switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy? Nuclear power — at least until we resolve the energy capture question — deserves deeper consideration.
Nuclear power is not only the safest means of making power, it has also saved 1.8 million lives by not generating the pollution other energy sources create. Surely, that is worth a conversation.
