Nuclear vs Renewables

[GlesgaeHibby]

Where do people stand on this issue? I have supported the SNP government on a large number of issues but I just can't stand by their stance on.

The SNP want 50% of our energy to come from renewables by 2020. I think most people would support that stance, but where is the rest of the 50% of our energy needs going to come from? We currently have two nuclear power stations, Hunterston B and Torness due to continue producing electricity until 2016 and 2023 respectively. That leaves us with a massive shortfall in 2020, and coal is certainly not the way to go- and I'm sure new EU regulations have limited the number of hours cockenzie can produce electricity for as it is too polluting.

Modern CANDU reactors are incredibly efficient and as such larger amounts of energy from reactor fuel than our current power stations. They are also incredibly safe as they often use water as the moderator and coolant.

Some powerful Nuclear Reactors also produce 99Tc as a by product. This is a highly important medical radio isotope used in treatment of tumours. We all know that reactors produce radioactive waste, and that is where the government are taking issue. We can transmutate(burn some waste through the nuclear reactor) and new ways of storing waste are currently being developed, such as synroc- being developed by Australian scientists of encasing the waste in synthetic rocks.

All going well we would only need one more generation of Nuclear fission power stations before we can start using Nuclear Fusion to generate our electricity, with ITER(International Fusion Reactor Experiment) well underway and hopefully generating large sustainable amounts of energy in the fairly near future.

Time for the SNP to stand with UK government so we can get the development and building of a next generation of nuclear power stations sooner rather than later.

[ancienthibby]

Where do people stand on this issue? I have supported the SNP government on a large number of issues but I just can't stand by their stance on.

The SNP want 50% of our energy to come from renewables by 2020. I think most people would support that stance, but where is the rest of the 50% of our energy needs going to come from? We currently have two nuclear power stations, Hunterston B and Torness due to continue producing electricity until 2016 and 2023 respectively. That leaves us with a massive shortfall in 2020, and coal is certainly not the way to go- and I'm sure new EU regulations have limited the number of hours cockenzie can produce electricity for as it is too polluting.

Modern CANDU reactors are incredibly efficient and as such larger amounts of energy from reactor fuel than our current power stations. They are also incredibly safe as they often use water as the moderator and coolant.

Some powerful Nuclear Reactors also produce 99Tc as a by product. This is a highly important medical radio isotope used in treatment of tumours. We all know that reactors produce radioactive waste, and that is where the government are taking issue. We can transmutate(burn some waste through the nuclear reactor) and new ways of storing waste are currently being developed, such as synroc- being developed by Australian scientists of encasing the waste in synthetic rocks.

All going well we would only need one more generation of Nuclear fission power stations before we can start using Nuclear Fusion to generate our electricity, with ITER(International Fusion Reactor Experiment) well underway and hopefully generating large sustainable amounts of energy in the fairly near future.

Time for the SNP to stand with UK government so we can get the development and building of a next generation of nuclear power stations sooner rather than later.

Two responses:

First the almost horrendous accident in the Atlantic last week with French and UK nuclear submarines in a 'crash' as just reported!!

Then, today's opening by the FM of a renewables centre in Aberdeen (?) see link. Report on radio earlier quotes the FM as saying that these centres could in time provide 100% of Scotland's energy needs!

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7891130.stm

[GlesgaeHibby]

Two responses:

First the almost horrendous accident in the Atlantic last week with French and UK nuclear submarines in a 'crash' as just reported!!

Then, today's opening by the FM of a renewables centre in Aberdeen (?) see link. Report on radio earlier quotes the FM as saying that these centres could in time provide 100% of Scotland's energy needs!

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7891130.stm

I don't dispute that in time we can be completely reliant on renewable clean sources of energy, but at the moment we certainly can't.

[hibsdaft]

bit of a headache this one imo.

anyone with a brain must see that renewables are the way to go in the ideal world and hopefully in the long term, but the renewable route requires a lot of technological progress and infrastructure changes in the way we go about producing and delivering energy - ie loads of techy stuff that i am not well up on and very few actually are. i have to question for example for all the wind farms with have now in Scotland whether the coal etc power stations actually stop running whilst they're active, I know a Planner who is very active in this areas and he has never been given a straight answer on this rather pivotal point. also worth pointing out that the firms throwing these wind farms up are not doing so for the general good: they are given very very attractive subsidies to do so and imo the way this has been done risks missing the bigger picture (that wind farms are only worthwhile if coal stations for example are switched off while they're operation).

in the meantime i want Scotland to be energy independent like France which is a net exporter of energy thanks to an enormous investment in an independent nuclear power system since the 60s. thats a great position of power to be in for a country to be independent like that.

but nuclear is very dodgy, its easy to be smug about it and i would put my hand up as someone who has been dismissive of the threats and dangers of nuclear power in the past simply because the west has managed to avoid any catastrophes so far, but the nuclear waste disposal issues and other dangers are real and have still not been addressed.

[GlesgaeHibby]

bit of a headache this one imo.

anyone with a brain must see that renewables are the way to go in the ideal world and hopefully in the long term, but the renewable route requires a lot of technological progress and infrastructure changes in the way we go about producing and delivering energy - ie loads of techy stuff that i am not well up on and very few actually are. i have to question for example for all the wind farms with have now in Scotland whether the coal etc power stations actually stop running whilst they're active, I know a Planner who is very active in this areas and he has never been given a straight answer on this rather pivotal point. also worth pointing out that the firms throwing these wind farms up are not doing so for the general good: they are given very very attractive subsidies to do so and imo the way this has been done risks missing the bigger picture (that wind farms are only worthwhile if coal stations for example are switched off while they're operation).

in the meantime i want Scotland to be energy independent like France which is a net exporter of energy thanks to an enormous investment in an independent nuclear power system since the 60s. thats a great position of power to be in for a country to be independent like that.

but nuclear is very dodgy, its easy to be smug about it and i would put my hand up as someone who has been dismissive of the threats and dangers of nuclear power in the past simply because the west has managed to avoid any catastrophes so far, but the nuclear waste disposal issues and other dangers are real and have still not been addressed.

Renewables are great in theory, but we have so far to go in developing new technologies to ensure we have energy WHEN we need it, not intermittently. Wind Farms are great, but are located in rural areas, therefore a large amount of power loss occurs transporting it to areas where it is needed.

Horizon tonight will be a good watch for anybody interested in Nuclear Fusion, the future of energy production.

[Woody1985]

Renewables are great in theory, but we have so far to go in developing new technologies to ensure we have energy WHEN we need it, not intermittently. Wind Farms are great, but are located in rural areas, therefore a large amount of power loss occurs transporting it to areas where it is needed.

Horizon tonight will be a good watch for anybody interested in Nuclear Fusion, the future of energy production.

What channel / time?

Cheers

I was going to invest in some renewable energy companies but am not sure what ones to go for. I'm also told that there probably won't be much growth for another 15/20 years.

Does anyone know what's going on with the guy from Edinburgh (I think) that invented the big snake like thing that goes in the sea and produces energy from the movement caused by the waves.

Thought that was a great idea in principle.

[GlesgaeHibby]

What channel / time?

Cheers

I was going to invest in some renewable energy companies but am not sure what ones to go for. I'm also told that there probably won't be much growth for another 15/20 years.

Does anyone know what's going on with the guy from Edinburgh (I think) that invented the big snake like thing that goes in the sea and produces energy from the movement caused by the waves.

Thought that was a great idea in principle.

Wave power is where we should be investing a lot of money into research. The prototypes so far are in infancy and have efficiency issues, but with research and development the scope is huge. As an Island we are ideally suited to harness power from the waves, and some estimates suggest that we could easily supply Britains current energy needs twice over using efficient wave power technology.

[Sergio sledge]

Does anyone know what's going on with the guy from Edinburgh (I think) that invented the big snake like thing that goes in the sea and produces energy from the movement caused by the waves.

Thought that was a great idea in principle.

I'm sure they are putting one of those systems in somewhere up here. They are trialling a few tidal power options in Orkney just now (think wind turbines under water being turned by currents created by the tide) these could be very beneficial to island communities, although this will never really be on a huge scale. IMHO, the future of 'renewables' is not in the large scale wind farms etc, but in micro generation schemes for individual towns and villages, and also educating people about good practice for conserving energy. The losses incurred in delivering electricity from wind farms etc, and the problem of storage of electricity to cover times when wind is low will always hold back large scale projects.

In reality, we're probably never going to have a definative answer in this debate, unless there is a big breakthrough in cold fusion.

20 years from now, houses will be super insulated, with their own microrenewables, towns will have small scale hydro plants, wind turbines, biomass chp plants and district heating schemes. There will also be high tech nuclear power plants serving big demands like businesses and industry.

All IMHO of course....:greengrin