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Nuclear isn't perfect, but it is the best we have right now. (lemmy.world)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I mean renewables are just cheaper...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

To a point yes but large scale energy storage needed to make renewables viable to handle all of the load is not economically viable yet

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Renewables with large scale storage are currently cheaper than any other source of energy

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (2 children)

And don't produce enough energy?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

What are you talking about? In 2023, solar power alone generated 1.63 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity. Twice as much as was generated by coal, and more than half as much as was generated by nuclear. Solar plus wind out performed nuclear by hundreds of gigawatts.

The only thing holding back renewable power is grid level energy storage, and that's evolving rapidly.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

The problem with renewables is the fluctuation. So you need something you can quickly spin up or down to compensate. Now you can do that with nuclear reactors to some extent - but they barely break even at current energy prices, and they keep having the same high cost while idle.

So a combination of grid storage and power plants with low cost when idle (like water) is the way to go now.