this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2024
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Nuclear power is still better than burning fossil fuels regardless, and probably has a role to play as a scaleable demand-responsive source.
However for the past decade or so, every time a new nuclear project starts the cost of wind and solar drops substantially before it's complete. This absolutely ruins the nuclear project's original cost/benefit analysis and makes continued spending on it look irresponsible. Wind and solar are outcompeting everything else, which is probably a good thing overall. If energy storage tech becomes more affordable/effective we might not need nuclear at all.
The appeal of solar and wind for me is how they can enable a decentralized grid. Anyone could set up these utilities according to their needs, which builds societal independence. Also means less resources are likely to be needed overall.
If by decentralized you're mainly referring to rooftop solar, it's unfortunately the least cost-effective way to generate electricity. The $/MWh for rooftop solar is even higher than nuclear on average. Wind and solar are more cost-effective in grid-scale installations. A decentralized/individualized grid would actually require more resources.
Right but if you're off grid, it's kind of irrelevant what in-grid costs, it's just nice that it's an option at all and that it keeps getting cheaper.
Yeah, grid-scale is exactly what I had in mind. I admit, I'm not knowledgeable in utility engineering. Looks like some research is in order. :)
Roof top solar is also a terrible idea due to the huge safety issue it raises for utility workers trying to maintain or repair damaged lines. How do you quickly and safely isolate dozens if not hundreds of houses feeding into the same line if they are all feeding power into the grid? It sounds like a corp shill line but if you're going rooftop solar you should go fully off grid due to the potential danger your panels can cause in any down line situation.