the electricity still has to come from SOMEWHERE..."
Nuclear power currently supplies 25 percent of Germany’s power, 39 percent of Switzerland’s power, and 20 percent of the electricity consumed in the U.S.
“Turning off a single large nuclear power plant could require dozens of coal and gas-fired plants to ramp up production to make up the difference,” says Paul Fischbeck, professor of social and decision sciences and engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University.
“These plants use fossil fuels, cost more to operate, and emit pollution that can lead to acid rain and ozone, and CO2, a greenhouse gas.”
The differences could be significant, Fischbeck says. “Replacing the Brown’s Ferry plant in Alabama with a mix of coal and gas power plants would cause CO2 emissions to increase by approximately 24 million tons each year. That’s the same as the annual emissions of over 4 million cars.
Finally found the article(again), thanks to RNS
3 comments:
A pal of mine used to manage a small private coal mine, which produced around 60,000 tons a year, and sold it all to a powerstation.
He said that if it burned it all in one go, it would take it about a day and a half!
People should remind them, also, that burning coal releases radiation - and rather more of it than any functioning nuclear power plant does.
Coal is a loser in every category, really.
In a sane world, anyone espousing such a plan would be very gently taken to a nice place out in the country where he could amuse himself with harmless pastimes such as soft foam checkers on a checkerboard painted on a table and dine on tepid mashed vegetables eaten with a soft rubber spoon from a soft rubber plate.
Sadly, this does not appear to be a sane world.
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