Nuke Energy Still In The Tar Sands Mix, Head of AECL

[taxslave]

Of course the head of AECL would be flogging his dead horse. It is worth a few hundred Gs a year to him. Nuclear is the least efficient and dirtiest form of power known to man. It would be far better to build a modern coal fired plant. Much cleaner. Also we have a few hundred years supply.

 

[Bar Sinister]

Of course the head of AECL would be flogging his dead horse. It is worth a few hundred Gs a year to him. Nuclear is the least efficient and dirtiest form of power known to man. It would be far better to build a modern coal fired plant. Much cleaner. Also we have a few hundred years supply.

You are right about Nuclear being a dead horse. It is technology that is fraught with problems, from the inititial mining of the ore to the final disposal of the waste product. In addition, it is the rare nuclear plant that comes in on budget, and in spite of assurances from the nuclear industry it is not nearly as safe as is claimed.

However, why not go all the way? Coal power dumps huge amounts of toxic materials into the atmosphere (everything from gaseous mercury to hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide), and requires an environmentally damaging mining process. Alternative power sources such as geothermal, wind, or solar, and are fairly light on the environment as well as posing few health problems to the surrounding communities. Too often when costs are considered those who advocate coal fired plants fail to take into consideration costs to society caused by coal fired plants, costs which may far exceed that of plant construction.

 

[petros]

Coal power dumps huge amounts of toxic materials into the atmosphere (everything from gaseous mercury to hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide.

What 's up with the scrubber systems? They don't work?

 

[Bar Sinister]

What 's up with the scrubber systems? They don't work?

You're joking right? Perhaps this will help.

coal power: air pollution | Union of Concerned Scientists

 

[petros]

Flue-gas desulfurization - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's been around for a long long time.Why did the coal haters skip that?

This is how it's done.

Google

 

[Kakato]

Flue-gas desulfurization - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's been around for a long long time.Why did the coal haters skip that?

This is how it's done.

Google

Mostly what you see at Sheerness and Gennesse coming out of the stacks is steam.
These mines actually leave a very small footprint when you consider how much money they make and all contained to one spot so reclamation is ongoing.
The Elk valley coal mines have been going for 80 plus years and most out of town folks would never know theres a dozen open pit strip mines in the area unless they flew over in a plane.

 

[petros]

There is enough mned and reclaimed land in SK to feed all the worlds moonbeams a loaf of bread and enough canola to deep fry their tofu too.

If the energy that was put into food (veggies especially) was cut off would the moonbeams eat bugs?

If so, I say cut it off for a year then they'll cry for a head of lettuce over crickets and grubs and demand the energy flow once again.

 

[Bar Sinister]

Just wondering. How well do scrubbers designed to remove sulphur compounds from coal fired plants do about removing the mercury, nitrogen oxide, arsenic, lead, and so on from the emissions?

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Scrubbers schmubbers, we used coal because it was cheap and it took decades to realize pollution and cigarettes were bad for you. It forecasts here that by 2020 the USA could be the leader in geothermal energy. Conservatives in Ottawa and Alberta don't like to do anything with approval from the USA, you can go crazy now Yankee flunkies, daddy approves.


US Could Become Geothermal Leader By 2020

• Sep 28, 2011

http://goodcleantech.pcmag.com/poll...me-geothermal-leader-by-2020#fbid=BX2gI6pBs0F

According to a new study from Pike Research, in less than a decade the United States will be the global leader in producing geothermal energy.

The report predicts that by 2020 America's geothermal output will reach 4.2 gigawatts, which marks a 36 percent increase compared to 2010. In comparison, the Asia Pacific region is expected to produce around 5.9 GW during the same time frame.

If these numbers prove true, the United States will account for 30 percent of the worldwide production of geothermal power. However, the research firm believes that there is potential for other markets to grow significantly, as well.

"Currently the vast majority of capacity is concentrated in just seven countries," Pike senior analyst Mackinnon Lawrence said, "but additional support from global financial markets and enhanced regional cooperation by institutions such as the World Bank and ARGeo, in Africa, will drive the development of new capacity in promising markets such as Kenya, Indonesia, and Turkey."

The full report is available here.