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.

 

Marielle Martin – Lesson 2

The government and financial communities have a number of reasons for supporting nuclear energy over renewable energy right now. At the present, there is a sense of urgency in the United States decisions regarding what energy technologies to support. Fossil fuels are still supplying the bulk of all energy in the United States, as well as the emissions. This is a problem that the government is likely hoping to solve quickly and efficiently, which is where nuclear power comes in. Nuclear sources already supply around 20% of the United States energy with only 100 operating reactors (NEI 2014). A high energy capacity factor, at around 90%, also makes nuclear energy more enticing (NEI 2014). The United States has existing infrastructure for nuclear energy delivery, experience with this proven technology, and the ability to deliver a large demand load at high capacity with nuclear energy. Financially, these three factors make it a less risky investment. Essentially, nuclear power funding promises bigger results in the short term than renewable sources can. Renewable energy, unlike nuclear, comes from a diverse mix of sources, making funding it more complicated. Renewable energy sources have much lower energy capacities as well, wind for example, being around 45% (OpenEI). Renewable power is also distributed differently than nuclear is. Individuals and businesses purchasing renewables, like solar, are able to generate the energy for themselves, while nuclear power maintains reliance on a centralized source. This notion has implications on taxes and the economy, so it’s likely that the government and financial investors would be in support of the nuclear industry’s reliability for revenue flow and tax dollars. Overall, there are a few big issues that raise questions about the safety of nuclear power, but the government is highly susceptible to short-term tunnel vision. I believe that the support of nuclear over solar power ultimately comes down to pressure to quickly transition away from carbon intensive fossil fuels, nuclear energy’s proven applicability against the questions of viability for renewables, and a need to ‘do less and get more’ (in terms of capacity factor differences between renewables and nuclear power).

Nuclear Energy Institute. 2014. “US Nuclear Power Plants.” Accessed September 3, 2014. http://www.nei.org/Knowledge-Center/Nuclear-Statistics/US-Nuclear-Power-Plants.

OpenEI. “Transparent Cost Database – Capacity Factor.” Accessed September 3, 2014. http://en.openei.org/apps/TCDB/.

‘Renewable energy sources’ houses a number of technologies under its name. No matter what technologies win favor with consumers and businesses, there will need to be a way to make the energy sources optimally functional. Not everyone is interested in living ‘off the grid’ the way that I am, so I see opportunities in global renewable development in the accessibility of the renewable energy. Many entrepreneurial opportunities exist within achieving accessibility, including grid construction, energy transport efficiency, energy storage on the grid, and energy dispersal (smart grid technology). These opportunities exist primarily in the construction, engineering, and information technology industries. Not only do these opportunities exist, but they are safe. Building pipelines to transport polluting materials from one corner of the planet to another is highly controversial, dangerous, and would be expensive if an accident occurred. However, a grid carrying electricity from much more localized areas than pipelines are used for wouldn’t ruffle as many feathers. It won’t be enough to have the renewable technology, we will need a way to use it effectively.

L2 Learning Activity: Searching for the Entrepreneurial Niche – Cole

     It is true, some renewable energy projects are failing to receive the same degree of support from the financial community and the government that nuclear does. In my opinion, I believe this is because we can generate much more electricity from nuclear than we can from any other renewable energy resource. With higher capital costs, it is much more expensive to build a nuclear facility and financial backing essential for this industry. With nuclear power generation, it can be built anywhere and relies on two of the most abundant substances of Earth, Water and Uranium, which are not hard to get. While as for other renewables like solar and wind, they rely on radiation and air currents which are best in only specific locations. We have learned in this lesson that no new nuclear power facilities have been built for over 35 years. Yet nuclear power still generates 19% of the nation’s electricity while other renewables generate 10% according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. I can also imagine a lot of government intervention in and lobbying from this industry which could also have an effect on this degree of support.

     Some niche opportunities I see for entrepreneurs in the global development of renewable energy sources are hydro-kinetic energy, or off shore wind generation, expanded bio-gas generation technology around the world to agricultural areas, and in the near future I see a new renewable source of energy using infrared emissions from the sun. I have included a link about that down below:

http://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2014/03/infrared-new-renewable-energy-source

Bibliography from EIA:

http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=92&t=4

http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=104&t=3

Searching for the Entrepreneurial Niche – MSWALE

I believe this has to do with nuclear being a complex subject, in many ways nuclear is talked about more often due to the health and safety concerns people have with them. Because of this I believe this renewable resource gets more public attention but nonetheless it does not change the fact that this is a renewable energy with little to no pollution and is very efficient. Which is why I think it has more support from the financial community and the government. They believe nuclear is the way to go to provide environmentally friendly, greener energy and know there are risks involved with this type of energy so they still implement stricter regulations for nuclear plants to follow. This isn’t really the case with solar, geothermal, or hydro so often they are less talked about. Solar for example has improved over the years and has gained some attention in recent years but still holds a small share of producing electricity. I believe solar has not been able to gain much support for a couple of reasons, the first being the lifespan of them. The lifespan is expected to be around 30-40 years, however the efficiency of the solar panel goes down a certain percentage each year, so even though their total life is 30-40 years they may be 90% efficient in the first couple years but closer to 30 years may only be 30-40% efficient. This also depends on what type of material the solar panel is made of for example, monocrystalline will be more efficient and last longer than a thin-film solar panel. The second reason is the price of solar panels, they are still fairly expensive to get and install. However, there is government and state incentives for getting solar panels on residential and commercial building and some areas can even get paid by utility companies for have a renewable energy. Overall, I believe nuclear gets more attention than other renewable resources because of how much they can generate, nuclear plants can take over the production of a coal or natural gas plant and be more efficient and cleaner. When we talk about solar or geothermal, often times they are referred to for residential use (single system for one home, versus nuclear can cover 100’s of homes).