Heap_Good_Firewater t1_j40scgs wrote
Reply to comment by RedditorsArGrb in Solar energy record: Mongolian CSP generated round the clock – 12 days, 24 hours a day by Cosmic_Ray_Bit_Flip
Yes, that wasn’t the best article to use to illustrate my point. Apologies (I was in a hurry and grabbed the wrong link). The 2021-2022 change was from a much higher baseline than it would have been if Germany hadn’t abandoned nuclear power. This article actually addresses my point:
The West’s Nuclear Mistake (The Atlantic)
Germany in 2020 was ninth in the world in coal burning. The UK burned barely any coal. The difference was the disastrous decision by Germany to drop nuclear power.
But nuclear power is dangerous!
The proven death toll from Fukishima is in the single digits. Three Mile Island had zero. Chernobyl killed 60 people almost immediately and maybe several hundred overall, but let's assume 20,000 lives shortened, to accept the absolute worst-case estimates.
All of those deaths together represent fewer deaths than two years of Chinese coal mining. If you factor in the health impacts of coal soot, coal is hundreds of thousands of times more deadly. Full replacement of coal with nuclear might have saved 7 million lives.
Newer plants can be designed so meltdowns are impossible. High-level nuclear waste can be reprocessed. Being afraid of a modern nuclear power plant is like refusing to fly on a 787 because the Hindenburg crashed.
Yes, there are some outdated plants (or plants in earthquake zones), that probably should be shut down, but we should be building new plants as fast as possible.
France has proven that nuclear power can be safe, economical, and generate minimal high-level waste, but even their technology is out of date.
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Despite Germany’s PR, their pre-Ukraine emissions reductions have far more to do with demographic decline than alternative energy. German emissions reductions have actually slowed since they started their solar buildout.
Also, Germany counts electricity generation from lignite as “renewable” as long as it is backstopping solar. This vastly overstates their green capacity, as lots of energy is used in the evening.
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