Renewables vs. Nuclear

There are many reasons why renewable energy technologies do not receive as much financing and government support as nuclear energy. A major shortcoming of most renewable energy technologies is intermittency and a dependence upon the weather. Solar and wind projects develop models that predict how much energy they will produce over their useful life, but these models are based on weather forecasts and historical data that may not always be reliable. There are also often more energy-producing components in a typical renewable energy installation, like many solar panels or wind turbines, and if one or more of these components is not producing as it should, it can have a significant impact on the overall energy produced. This variability makes renewable energy a less appealing prospect for financing, which relies on the energy produced to repay the loan. Nuclear energy facilities are large, centralized producers that experience far less unanticipated variability in energy output. Nuclear facilities also have a longer operating history with more favourable performance than most renewable energy technologies, which makes the technology more mature and a safer investment.

In terms of government policy, renewable energy installations are often more expensive per unit of energy produced than nuclear facilities, and require larger land areas than nuclear. There is also a political component to the support of nuclear energy over renewables – many of the owners and developers of nuclear facilities are wealthy energy companies and utilities, which can provide more campaign donation contributions than more grassroots-oriented renewable energy companies.

Globally, there are a great deal of opportunities to apply renewable technologies in less developed areas where there is limited access to a national electric grid. The distributed nature of renewable technologies like solar power, geothermal, and biodigestor systems are ideally suited to rural villages in places like India and Africa. Island nations can also make great use of renewable technologies because their imported fuels costs are so expensive, that renewable technologies become cost competitive much more easily.

 

3 thoughts on “Renewables vs. Nuclear

  1. I really like your suggestion of investing in renewables in the developing world. Biomass generation is intriguing but I wonder if it is all that sustainable given the switch grass or similar feedstock required. One thing still hindering renewable installations is that they are very much “energy negative” when you factor in the input energy expended to design, manufacture, build, and operate a windmill or solar farm. Subsidies hide this fact which unfortunately severely hinders the sustainable aspect of their implementation. Eventually technology will improve and render this a moot point.

  2. Hi Abby,

    I enjoyed your post! I had not considered that the models produced to predict solar and wind energy generation were tied to historical weather trends and, certainly, if that is the case, that will not be accurate. Our weather seems to get more unpredictable by the day although if you look at a long-term trend a person could probably make a good estimation of a future long-term trend. However, we need to make sure that renewable energy is developed as a part of a global energy package.

    Thanks again for sharing your thoughts on this.

    Jennifer

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