this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2024
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United States | News & Politics
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Wind and solar plants should be in areas where they make the most sense. You cannot create a resilient electrical grid with just solar and wind. Sorry, but there is no economical way to do that. Even with gas plants as back up, this is also not economical, because you need redundant power plants to fill in the gaps left by renewables. Take a look at Germany. No more cheap Russian natural gas. They shut down their nuclear power plants, and now they will have to import energy from France's nuclear power plants. Wind and solar are not reliable energy for many places in Europe and North America. Transmission lines need to built which cost a lot of money, and they are a liability that needs to be replaced every 40 years. In the US, a state like Texas does not need solar or wind. It is a state with plenty of natural gas and constant generation is necessary for profitability. Yes, Texas leads in renewables within, but it doesn't need it for energy.
Renewables are an important part of the mix, but seems like nuclear is more important right now. It's the best way to move industry away from coal and gas in the long run, though it's something we in the US should have started on 30 years ago.
I'm aware that nuclear power has it's own set of complications, but they're more solvable than reducing emissions without it