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A comment on Japan nuclear body says radioactive water at Fukushima an 'emergency'. Parent comment

Re:Japan nuclear body says radioactive water at Fukushima an... by muyuu on Monday August 05, 2013 @02:59PM (#6162124)
Sun radiation is limited. You get ~1.4 kW/m2 at 100% efficiency. You need enormous plots of land to get anywhere close to what a small nuclear plant can produce.

Renewables will only get so far if we don't stop increasing our energy demands exponentially every year. Since that seems unlikely, we will produce every single way we can.

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Re:Japan nuclear body says radioactive water at Fukushima an... by marze on Monday August 05, 2013 @03:20PM (#6162270)
Electric demand has been dropping for the last five or so years in the US. Not increasing exponentially.

You could cover 1/4 of the roof area in the US with solar panels and have enough power to close all other power plants. Add panels over parking lots and you get exponential demand back.

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Re:Japan nuclear body says radioactive water at Fukushima an... by muyuu on Monday August 05, 2013 @05:34PM (#6163255)
Doesn't matter, it's a global market.
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Re:Japan nuclear body says radioactive water at Fukushima an... by marze on Wednesday August 07, 2013 @11:57PM (#6177260)
Other countries have buildings with roofs.
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Re:Japan nuclear body says radioactive water at Fukushima an... by SuperChihuahua on Monday August 05, 2013 @03:06PM (#6162183)
That Elon Musk guy argued that if we installed solar panels all over the safety zones around a nuclear reactor, then those panels would generate more energy than the power plant.
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Re:Japan nuclear body says radioactive water at Fukushima an... by muyuu on Monday August 05, 2013 @05:37PM (#6163270)
If that's a profitable investment I'm sure it will be done.
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Re:Japan nuclear body says radioactive water at Fukushima an... by digikata on Monday August 05, 2013 @04:39PM (#6162828)
Conveniently enough, the land for solar interception can be dual use with structures we already use and will build.
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Re:Japan nuclear body says radioactive water at Fukushima an... by muyuu on Monday August 05, 2013 @05:35PM (#6163263)
Sure. As I said, we will produce every way we can. Talking about the long term.
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