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The problem is you need to burn alot of dead trees to make a dam and EROEI is dwindling too fast for this to become a viable option. Nuclear and hydro will never be rebuilt to the same level we have now.



Nuclear has its own decommissioning and long term disposal problem.


If anything nuclear's problem is even more political than practical.

We could fulfill the world's nuclear waste storage needs with a couple landfills if the will was there (though any geologist will tell you are better options than near surface storage).

From an ecological perspective nuclear is the best option by a mile because the amount of stuff you need to pull out of the ground, move around, use and dispose of is so small per energy produced.


It's the same for hydro, the lack of political stakeholders in decomissioning process. I wasn't suggesting that it's physically impossible.


Nuclear has 1.000.000.000x the energy density of batteries so yes, but you need dead trees to build and maintain power lines, the power grid cannot be remade after it's current decline.

Tiny local hydro (with natural dam) is the future, but getting a building permit is near impossible. (I leave it to the reader to guess why)

We need to switch off electricity for everything except (low power) computers and networks. = hand pumped water, wood stove for water heater, earth cellar as fridge!

Mass transports are completely over, grow/breed/preserve your food locally!


> wood stove for water heater

Even ignoring the CO2 aspect, the particulate emissions from this would be quite problematic in any sort of dense area. Not to mention what fraction of those particulates would end up inside the house...

Also, you don't mention heating (houses, not water). That is a huge part of energy consumption in many parts of the world.


> the power grid cannot be remade

What has changed such that you could not remake the power grid? Do we lack the raw materials or know how?


You don't need trees for powerlines. Steel and an excavator is more than enough. Actually, just a shovel would be enough.


And then reality set in. This lifestyle simply won't happen.


Nuclear is being built in China like crazy. They‘re currently constructing 12 plants at the same time.


China has less reactors than france with 20x the population. They would need 1000 reactors to match.

For a commodore user you are very optimistic about things getting better!

More nuclear plants are getting closed than built.


It's still a far cry from the 70's. My quick counting showed the US opening around 40 from 70-75.


Not really.

In short: ((by 2035)) nuclear generating capacity ((will be)) 7.7% out of predicted total electricity generating capacity.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_China#History

They, however, built renewables like crazy.


I hope they're better at running nuclear power plants than they are at running infectious disease labs.




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