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Post by huon on Feb 5, 2018 7:09:43 GMT 9.5
There are in fact two silver bullets for controlling climate change: a carbon tax and advanced nuclear power. The first can create an economy-wide demand for low-carbon energy; the second can produce an economy-wide supply of it. Two recent articles about the UK illustrate these points: "A carbon tax killed coal in the UK. Natural gas is next." qz.com/1192735/a-carbon-tax-killed-coal-in-the-uk-natural-gas-is-next/"SMRs 'crucial' to decarbonising UK economy, says report" (Roger Clifton mentioned this article on Jan. 25 above.) www.world-nuclear-news.org/NP-SMRs-crucial-to-decarbonising-uk-economy-2501185.htmlAn excerpt: "The report's author, Matt Rooney, Policy Exchange's energy and environment research fellow, said: 'In the next decades, we are going to need previously unthinkable levels of new low-carbon electricity capacity for charging electric vehicles and to replace gas and coal. Whilst the cost reductions of solar and wind power have been impressive, their very nature means we can't rely on them without investing huge amounts in storage technology. "He added, 'There is no other low-carbon energy which can match nuclear power for scale and reliability, as well as the potential to use it for other services like district heating and hydrogen production. The failure of the nuclear industry to prove that it can finance and build large reactors on time and budget means that the development of small modular reactors must be one of the central goals of government energy policy.'"
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Post by huon on Feb 13, 2018 16:37:15 GMT 9.5
"Good news for a change on climate change" "Nature and the gods of technology have blessed us with the means to avoid the worst consequences of climate warming. Now there is good climate news for a change. What we must do is put less carbon into the sky and start taking the carbon we have already put in out of the sky. illinoistimes.com/article-19594-good-news-for-a-change-on-climate-change.htmlThis is a refreshing article by a professor emeritus from the University of Illinois at Springfield. The author advocates using both nuclear (together with solar and wind) and a carbon tax.
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Post by Roger Clifton on Feb 13, 2018 18:52:59 GMT 9.5
There are a lot of good-sounding statements in that article, though I'm not sure they are all compatible. However I did enjoy his anecdote, where President Roosevelt tells the masters of mass production, "the U.S. car manufacturers after Pearl Harbor ... they must build tanks and planes, but they asked how many cars they could produce each year. FDR’s answer: None." That is, they must become wholly committed to rolling out machines for a great struggle. Later in the war, their plants were churning out Liberty Ships, thousands of them. The world has a looming need for mobilisation. It is clear to you and me what today's heavy duty mass production lines must turn out in endless quantity. Small modular reactors, SMRs*. Pray that the designs are ready for mass implementation when world public opinion becomes decisive! * assembled to standard in the factory and trucked to site, ready to run. jump to Open Thread
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Post by huon on Feb 20, 2018 15:22:11 GMT 9.5
In the fight against climate change, complete SMR power plants may be placed on barges and towed, nearly ready to run, to their destinations. The US startup ThorCon Power and Indonesia are currently exploring such an idea. stoppingclimatechange.com/power_barges.htmSo we may get a new fleet of Liberty Ships.
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Post by Roger Clifton on Feb 25, 2018 10:45:19 GMT 9.5
Certainly we can hope for a future traffic of factory-made reactors being transported on barges, across the oceans and seas and along big rivers. That vision should include larger factory-built reactors (such as PRISM, 10 m wide) as well as SMRs. SMRs are rather more special in that they are narrow enough ( NuScale is 6 m wide) to be trucked across land in one piece. Reactors built in a factory to proven specifications, SMRs can be producing power within a couple of years of delivery to the site. I expect that that delay will shorten with experience. The Russian power barge is a nuclear power station on water, complete with turbine generators and (of course!) a cooling system. Fully transportable, it can be moved on immediately its customer (such as a mine site) closes down, to the next site. Reactors normally have to be dismantled before being moved on, if small enough to be moved. For example, Toshiba's 4S reactor must be allowed to cool for two years before the core and its coolant can be removed, so that the rest of the unit can be moved elsewhere. The banker must be paid during the cooling period, so it would be more profitable to choose a unit designed to be moved on while still "hot". Based in Turkey, Karadeniz Powership Co maintains a fleet of nine power ships, delivering 100 to 200 MW from onboard diesels. These floating power stations are moored in places remote from the national grids in the less-developed world, including northern Sulawesi, in Indonesia. Once a replacement power station is built onshore, the more expensive power ship can be moved elsewhere. jump to Open Thread
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Post by huon on Mar 1, 2018 11:44:41 GMT 9.5
Yes, small modular reactors (SMRs), deliverable in sections by truck, are IMO the key technology for fighting climate change. I've recently been reading about the Moltex molten salt reactor, which is being developed in the UK. For this reactor, each 150 MWe module would be just over 2 meters wide and weigh about 18 tons. So two modules, for a 300 MW reactor, could be transported on one semi truck. A 600 MW reactor--probably a good size for Australia--would take just two trucks. And a full size 1,200 MW plant would need just four trucks! Of course, many more truckloads would be required for the balance of a plant. But even so, being able to deliver the heart of a reactor to almost anywhere in a few truckloads is pretty impressive. The Moltex website provides a good overview: www.moltexenergy.com/For a new technical paper, please see www.moltexenergy.com/learnmore/An_Introduction_Moltex_Energy_Technology_Portfolio.pdf
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Post by Roger Clifton on Mar 2, 2018 19:51:38 GMT 9.5
Huon, both those links took me into the Twitter jungle, where I was pounced on by an invitation to join up. Do you have links that would take us direct to Moltex' recent article?
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Post by huon on Mar 3, 2018 11:28:31 GMT 9.5
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Post by huon on Mar 12, 2018 6:06:04 GMT 9.5
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Post by huon on Mar 21, 2018 5:28:16 GMT 9.5
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Post by huon on Apr 16, 2018 15:20:47 GMT 9.5
This is a continuation of a discussion Roger Clifton and I were having about CO2 sequestration (on the BNC Blog section, Hansen to Obama thread).
RC said, "...the idea of burying more than 500 km^3 of corrosive liquid above its boiling point is ridiculous."
Actually, there is apparently plenty of room for 500 gigatonnes of CO2; corrosion can be a problem, but careful selection of sites for their rock and brine chemistry can mitigate the risk; and at around 1 km deep the CO2 will remain a supercritical "liquid" for eons.
Nuclear power provides a useful analogy. Nuclear, too, has risks. But these risks will decrease the more we learn and improve technology. And the risk of not using nuclear power, to the climate, to the earth, and to ourselves, is many times greater.
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Post by huon on Apr 25, 2018 13:18:19 GMT 9.5
Sometime in the next two weeks, the BNC main site will probably receive its five millionth hit. Congratulations! The site is now closed to comments, but the wonderful archives are still there and Barry Brook continues to post BNC tweets. Those who want to celebrate a little early can have a look at the Apr. 6 tweet about Jupiter. www.bravenewclimate.com/To jump to the image of Jupiter, click here. Update, May 2: BNC is now about 2 days away. Update, May 7, 6:00 am (GMT): 5,000,182 and counting!
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Post by huon on Jul 10, 2018 5:05:31 GMT 9.5
US nuclear, solar and wind companies are joining together to back a national carbon tax: www.utilitydive.com/news/exelon-first-solar-back-bipartisan-national-carbon-tax-plan/526223/"Exelon has supported other carbon tax efforts, including on state levels, that would help keep nuclear plants viable. As a leading nuclear generator in the U.S., the company said in 2014 that a carbon tax of more than $10/ton in Illinois would keep carbon-free nuclear plants running." It's good to see nuclear and renewables working together towards a common goal. And it's also heartening to see the feedback loop between clean-energy tech and policy growing stronger.
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Post by huon on Aug 26, 2018 13:57:26 GMT 9.5
The first molten salt reactors (MSRs) were designed for direct aircraft propulsion. These never flew. But their descendants, small modular MSRs designed to provide electricity for the grid, will help charge the batteries of electric planes.
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Post by huon on Sept 28, 2018 14:33:21 GMT 9.5
A conference about the health impacts of low-dose radiation will be held between Sep 30 and Oct 3 in Pasco, Washington. According to a recent paper about low-dose radiation: "Epidemiological data provide essentially no evidence for detrimental health effects below 100 mSv, and several studies suggest beneficial (hormetic) effects.... At this point, taking into account the high price tag (in both economic and human terms) borne by the LNT [Linear No Threshold]-inspired regulation, there is little doubt that the present regulatory burden should be reduced." journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1559325818796331Such a regulatory reduction would greatly help nuclear power and thus climate protection.
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Post by huon on Nov 6, 2018 6:25:49 GMT 9.5
"2 Americans win econ Nobel for work on climate and growth" www.columbian.com/news/2018/oct/08/2-americans-win-econ-nobel-for-work-on-climate-and-growth/"The Nobel prize in economics was awarded Monday [Oct. 8] to one American who has studied the economics of climate change--and to another whose research on technological innovation has raised hopes that human beings are creative enough to do something about it." This is a well-written article, and a heartening one.
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Post by huon on Dec 15, 2018 6:51:56 GMT 9.5
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Post by huon on Jan 10, 2019 7:34:22 GMT 9.5
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Post by huon on Jan 15, 2019 6:54:55 GMT 9.5
Because this site has been increasingly cluttered with spam, the site should be cleaned up and then either lightly monitored and moderated, or closed to new comments. I personally hope we can keep it going for at least this year. Getting a carbon tax passed, especially in the US, is critical to addressing climate change. And now with the US election over and each party controlling part of the government, this may be the best time to find common ground and pass such a tax.
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Post by David B. Benson on Jan 15, 2019 17:19:22 GMT 9.5
huon --- Try to convince Barry Brook that you should be the moderator who keeps the place tidy. I would appreciate it.
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Post by huon on Jan 17, 2019 7:35:29 GMT 9.5
dbb: And I very much appreciate it when you chime in from time to time. I'm not an ideal candidate for a moderator as my computer skills are pretty basic. But I must admit that I'm good at deleting, having had much practice with my own writing. So I'll certainly consider your suggestion.
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Post by Roger Clifton on Jan 17, 2019 11:54:36 GMT 9.5
huon --- Try to convince Barry Brook that you should be the moderator who keeps the plan tidy. I would appreciate it. Amen to that!
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Post by huon on Jan 25, 2019 5:59:21 GMT 9.5
Thanks, RC. No promises, but I'll try to contact Prof. Brook in the next couple of weeks and see what he thinks.
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Post by huon on Jan 26, 2019 7:04:45 GMT 9.5
Or perhaps a little sooner.
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Post by David B. Benson on Jan 28, 2019 20:45:29 GMT 9.5
Or perhaps a little sooner. The sooner the better, please.
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Post by huon on Jan 29, 2019 6:52:29 GMT 9.5
dbb, Yes, sooner is looking more attractive.
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Post by huon on Feb 2, 2019 7:12:04 GMT 9.5
Roger Clifton and davidbbenson: I emailed Barry Brook a couple of days ago, but have not yet received a reply. Perhaps, because it is austral summer, he is not checking his university email very frequently.
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Post by David B. Benson on Feb 2, 2019 20:08:07 GMT 9.5
Roger Clifton and davidbbenson: I emailed Barry Brook a couple of days ago, but have not yet received a reply. Perhaps, because it is austral summer, he is not checking his university email very frequently. Aha.
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Post by huon on Feb 6, 2019 15:03:12 GMT 9.5
A couple of days ago Barry Brook replied to my email, earlier today he made me moderator, and a few hours ago I finished the forum cleanup. Pretty amazing. Thanks again, Roger and David, for your help and encouragement: Without your help none of this would have happened.
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Post by Roger Clifton on Feb 6, 2019 17:53:54 GMT 9.5
A couple of days ago Barry Brook replied to my email, earlier today he made me moderator, and a few hours ago I finished the forum cleanup. Pretty amazing. Thanks again, Roger and David, for your help and encouragement: Without your help none of this would have happened. Thanks Barry, Huon. Now cleaned up, the threads have once again become continuous stories that we and other visitors can follow, and hopefully, be inspired by.
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