Re:Tree planting: Where can I do it and which type is best?
by Retric on Wednesday July 31, 2019 @09:53PM
(#20580540)
The problem with Nuclear is it needs huge subsides to be cost competitive with battery backed Wind / Solar or Hydro, even more if you want it to load follow. With just a carbon tax and no specific Nuclear subsidies, Nuclear is rarely a good option.
In theory it seems like a great idea, in practice with decades of 10’s to 100’s of Billions in R&D it’s unlikely to improve that much within the next 5-10 years. (106 Billion and counting from the US government alone: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2018/07/09/nuclear-...)
Re:Tree planting: Where can I do it and which type is best?
by philipkglass on Thursday August 01, 2019 @01:29PM
(#20586179)
I agree that new nuclear power doesn't appear to be competitive with new renewables in the near term. It might be competitive again as renewable penetration gets high and storage costs rise. If there were just one tax incentive scheme, aimed at reducing CO2 emissions, we could be sure that tax incentives were optimizing for low emissions without distorting the market in favor of overly specific technology choices. But as I mentioned before, I'll take the overly specific and distortionary incentives if the alternative is "no incentives at all for reducing emissions."
Re:Tree planting: Where can I do it and which type is best?
by Robotbeat on Thursday August 01, 2019 @01:04AM
(#20581189)
It's probably needed in northern countries for COMPLETE decarbonization. And basically all large infrastructure has some level of subsidy, definitely including wind, solar, and hydro.
Just mention it as one of the low-emissions alternatives to fossil power. Cite climate-focused organizations for support rather than industry-specific organizations. The aim is to reduce emissions, not to promote one specific technology toward that end.
I wish that we just had carbon tax-and-dividend instead of a thousand different regulations and tax code incentives mandating or nudging toward specific kinds of efficiency measures and fossil replacements. At the same time I understand that carbon taxes face enormous popular opposition while tax credits and CAFE standards don't, so I'll accept having 3 different kinds of federal tax incentives to separately promote nuclear power, wind power, and solar power (plus a myriad of differently structured state level incentives) as the best the US can currently do.