Rolls Royce is going into the nuclear power business...

[birdguy 3,943]

https://www.reuters.com/business/britain-start-approval-process-rolls-royce-mini-nuclear-reactor-2022-03-07/

Nuclear fission will be with us until nuclear fusion becomes viable for energy production.

Noel

[dave2013 1,130]

Yep, the smaller, modular, modern reactors are the way to go in some places if you want reliable electricity.

I can't say too much about why I believe this is a timely article or my post will be deleted, but you can probably guess why considering what's happening lately.

It's about time people wake up and get real about energy.

Dave

[martin-w 3,238]

1 hour ago, birdguy said:

https://www.reuters.com/business/britain-start-approval-process-rolls-royce-mini-nuclear-reactor-2022-03-07/

Nuclear fission will be with us until nuclear fusion becomes viable for energy production.

Noel

 

Rolls making mini reactors is old news. 

 

1 hour ago, birdguy said:

Nuclear fission will be with us until nuclear fusion becomes viable for energy production.

 

Nobody said it wouldn't. Expansion is my issue not existence. But lets not start all of that AGAIN! 

 

And my intention in what is ANOTHER thread you've started on nuclear power (thinking you may have shares in the nuclear industry  😁 ) is to stick to the technology and avoid ANOTHER pro/anti nuclear debate. As we've done it one million times already and all opinions are known.

And on that note, it remains to be seen whether a plethora of mini nuclear reactors dotted around a country is safer or less safe than a few full sized reactors.  

I'm thinking 10,000 reactors is 10,000 chance's for mishap and 100 reactors is 100 chances for mishap. 

Edited March 8, 2022 by martin-w

[G-RFRY 1,712]

That`s old news and years away, the west is scrapping fossil fuels without have anything in place replace it yet, so they import fossil fuels which increases the carbon footprint on a gallon of fuel.  

[martin-w 3,238]

2 minutes ago, G-RFRY said:

scrapping fossil fuels without have anything in place replace it yet,

 

No they aren't. Its phased. We've always imported fossil fuels. 

Edited March 8, 2022 by martin-w

[birdguy 3,943]

5 minutes ago, martin-w said:

I'm thinking 10,000 reactors is 10,000 chance's for mishap and 100 reactors is 100 chances for mishap. 

Just like 10,000 jet airliners is 10,000 chance's for a mishap.

Noel

[martin-w 3,238]

3 minutes ago, birdguy said:

Just like 10,000 jet airliners is 10,000 chance's for a mishap.

Noel

 

Exactly. 

Although I guess a huge reactor mishap is worse than a mini reactor mishap. But then 10,000 mini reactors is 10,000 chances of material getting into the wrong hands. Its complicated. 🙁

Edited March 8, 2022 by martin-w

[G-RFRY 1,712]

7 minutes ago, martin-w said:

 

No they aren't. Its phased. We'd have no lights on is that were the case. 😁 

40 years ago most of what we consumed was manufactured locally now most is imported halfway round the world. Germany was energy independent now nearly half is imported. last year Australia had record exports of coal to China.    

Yes it`s phased that`s why electric bills in the UK are set to double this year. 

Edited March 8, 2022 by G-RFRY

[martin-w 3,238]

9 minutes ago, G-RFRY said:

Yes it`s phased that`s why electric bills in the UK are set to double this year. 

 

That's because the energy price cap is being raised. And its caused by worldwide issues with gas supplies. Cold winter in Europe put pressure on supplies and reduced the amount stored. Demand went up in Asia that reduced supplies. And now of course we have a certain world event we cant talk about. Its not related to cutting fuels to mitigate environmental issues. 

[G-RFRY 1,712]

Cold winter I've never know a winter as mild as this for years, update the west is banning imports watch the news. 

[martin-w 3,238]

Cold winter isn't just UK, its the whole of Europe, and it was 20/21.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58090533

 

 

Quote

 

Why have gas prices gone up?

A worldwide squeeze on energy supplies has pushed the price of gas up to unprecedented levels:

• a cold winter in Europe in 2020/21 put pressure on supplies and reduced the the amount of gas stored
• a relatively windless summer in 2021 made it difficult to generate wind energy
• increased demand from Asia - especially China - put pressure on liquefied natural gas supplies
•  

• Warning UK energy bills could top £3,000 a year

The UK is relatively hard-hit because about 85% of homes have gas central heating, and gas generates a third of the country's electricity.

 

 

Ive deleted the bit we aren't supposed to talk about but you can visit the link if desired. 

 

Edited March 8, 2022 by martin-w

[dave2013 1,130]

1 hour ago, martin-w said:

Cold winter in Europe

Aren't winters always cold? 😜

Anyway, the fact is that demand for fossil fuels is higher than ever because of countries like China and India.  Millions of people in those countries have moved into the middle class and are consuming more energy and commodities.

It's like I've said before: the problem is too many people, and specifically many more people becoming more prosperous.  The prosperity is a good thing, but ironically it is also bad as it means more and more demand for limited resources.

We need to continue to move away from fossil fuel dependency, but in the meantime we have to be realistic and understand that we still desperately need those fossil fuels.  Cutting their production now is tantamount to economic suicide.  We're looking at a return to 1970s style stagflation. 

The USA has an immense supply of natural gas, which is much cleaner than oil and coal.  We should use that resource to build interim power plants and even power our cars with it while building out the solar plants and, yes, nuclear plants as well.  We also need to build out the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles which in the USA is woefully inadequate.

I posted a while back that I watched a video of a guy in Ireland making a long trip in his electric car.  He ran into multiple problems along the way such as long wait times for an available charging station, long charging times, and defective chargers.  This system is simply not ready for prime time.  We need to improve it and that will cost a lot of money.  Well, it's actually becoming worth it now when factoring in the cost of fossil fuels and just as importantly where a lot of those fossil fuels come from.

So for the most part I agree with you, Martin.  We have to get off fossil fuels ASAP.  Good luck getting India and china on board, though.  Where I differ is that I think we need to make the transition using natural gas and nuclear.  Unfortunately, we have many leaders who are ideologues and they refuse to increase production of any fossil fuels at all, and most of them are opposed to nuclear power.  The middle class will pay through the nose for their intransigence on this issue, while the politicians, bureaucrats, and elites fly around on private jets.

Dave

Edited March 8, 2022 by dave2013

[birdguy 3,943]

We are having our second mildest winter in a row.  Can't talk about why.  We had one morning where we got almost an inch of snow.  It was gone by noon.  Our daytime temperatures have ranged on the mid 50sF to the low 80sF.

Most of our LPG is being shipped to China but if gas is cut off to Europe I read that some of the LPG will be diverted from China and sent to Europe.

Climate change (I hope that's not also a word not allowed) is causing chaos all over the globe.  Some of us are getting colder and some of us are getting warmer.  Last summer we hardly had a day less than 100F.  Looks like we are heading into the same thing this summer.  So what we saved on heating this winter will be spent on air conditioning this summer.

Noel

[martin-w 3,238]

49 minutes ago, dave2013 said:

Cutting their production now is tantamount to economic suicide

 

Err... sorry Mr David, but that depends what you mean by cutting.

Absolutely nobody has ever said we could, or should, shut off all fossil fuel production overnight, economies of many countries depend on fossil fuels. Its about transition to renewables a soon we can. That's not really what's happening though, procrastination and fossil fuel industry shenanigans is happening. 

Absolutely fine to "cut a percentage of fossil fuel production now" if that supply of energy is met by other means. Again... obviously. Nobody is cutting fossil fuel energy and deliberately letting the metaphorical lights turn off. 

[martin-w 3,238]

1 hour ago, dave2013 said:

I posted a while back that I watched a video of a guy in Ireland making a long trip in his electric car.  He ran into multiple problems along the way such as long wait times for an available charging station, long charging times, and defective chargers.  This system is simply not ready for prime time. 

 

Absolutely nobody has said we should/could ALL switch to electric vehicles now. Its a transition, a phased reduction in fossil fuel powered vehicles. Nobody is demanding we all could or should buy a Tesla now, this minute.

And the video you watched is misleading because it applied to that particular individuals need at the time and his location. I could buy an electric car now and it would perfectly serve my needs, easy charging at home and way more than enough range than I require. Same applies when I was in the UK, would have been perfect for me. And in fact an electric car would be perfect for a multitude of drivers. Now... if you are an individual  who conducts very long journeys in any part of the world, all the time, then obviously its not for you. The vast majority of car drivers charge them at home. Supercharging when on long drives is occasional for most drivers.

Of course electric cars are ready for "prime time". There are half a million in the UK and even more in the US and explosive growth is expected by experts in the near future. Within the next decade electric cars are expected to dominate the US market.

 

Quote

Where I differ is that I think we need to make the transition using natural gas and nuclear. 

 

 Most of the UK's energy supply is already from natural gas. New renewable energy generation is coming on line as we speak, its that which is making the transition. I can't speak for the US, but if you accelerate natural gas generation instead of renewables you are delaying the transition, not aiding it. 

 

As for nuclear, I have no interest it typing everything I've typed before. 

 

Quote

Unfortunately, we have many leaders who are ideologues and they refuse to increase production of any fossil fuels at all,

 

Thing is, we are currently fighting a losing battle. Fossil fuel use is UP world wide, not down. CO2 in the atmosphere continues to not just rise but accelerate. So I can certainly see why some politicians feel that way.

There will come a time, sooner than many think, where  the "gradual transition" and "maybe switch to lower carbon fuels first" mantras are luxury options we wont have. 

If you must use gas, fine, if you must use nuclear, fine, but know that the moment when such luxury is no longer afforded you is approaching rapidly. When that time comes, the worlds procrastination and delaying tactics will be punished most severely. 

 

 

Edited March 8, 2022 by martin-w