> As long as that much new firm renewables capacity comes online in the next 20 years close enough to get power to the facility with transmission, this is not a terrible problem to solve.
Nuclear and renewables are not 1:1 interchangeable. Nuclear adds to the base electric capacity —- it’s a constant 2GW. To replace it with intermittent renewables requires several times that amount of capacity.
And electricity is only about 20% of our energy use. As we’re electrifying heating and transportation, all of that adds an enormous demand to the electric grid. The electricity powering Amazon’s 900MW data center could be used to power people’s basic needs.
The “energy transition” is not a simple problem to solve —- if it were, we’d be doing it. In reality, additional renewable generation is only adding to the total energy consumption, not replacing fossil fuels.
Like I said, if we cared about the future, we’d take a triage approach to any new electric loads.
Nuclear and renewables are not 1:1 interchangeable. Nuclear adds to the base electric capacity —- it’s a constant 2GW. To replace it with intermittent renewables requires several times that amount of capacity.
And electricity is only about 20% of our energy use. As we’re electrifying heating and transportation, all of that adds an enormous demand to the electric grid. The electricity powering Amazon’s 900MW data center could be used to power people’s basic needs.
The “energy transition” is not a simple problem to solve —- if it were, we’d be doing it. In reality, additional renewable generation is only adding to the total energy consumption, not replacing fossil fuels.
Like I said, if we cared about the future, we’d take a triage approach to any new electric loads.