Re:Europe Is Losing Nuclear Power Just When It Needs Energy
by shafyy on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @10:26AM
(#30163762)
Yes, I agree that we need to include all costs. But, to my knowledge the costs presented in the link I sent to include all costs, e.g. here for batteries: https://ourworldindata.org/cheap-renewables-growth#batteries...
Re:Europe Is Losing Nuclear Power Just When It Needs Energy
by DrBazza on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @11:41AM
(#30165141)
I'm not disagreeing that batteries are cost efficient, just pointing out that batteries aren't (natural) resource efficient.
Re:Europe Is Losing Nuclear Power Just When It Needs Energy
by shafyy on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @11:48AM
(#30165274)
Sure, but digging for Uranium isn't a walk in the park, either :-) I'm just pointing to the fact that if the data in the Our World in Data does in fact inclulde these costs for both our cases, then it's still clear that the costs of renewable + battery is cheaper than nuclear and still on a strong downward trend.
And it's the same with the turbines and all the rare earths that need to be mined to make the current most efficient dynamos.
If people want to promote wind turbines and solar, they should at least compare like for like, which includes the costs of digging the materials out of the ground, and the disposal of old panels and turbines, in the same way people say 'but nuclear waste!'.