Nuclear Energy Can Save US: "Clean Coal" and Global Warming

Nuclear Energy Can Save US--America�s 100 nukes equal four million barrels of oil per day.

Billions of lives and civilization itself may be at risk from the Global Warming & End of Cheap Oil, Crisis. Rising sea levels and rising oil prices could be the end of civilization as we know it. The problem is so huge that the most powerful answer, many nuclear plants, must be deployed. Currently, America‘s 100 nukes deliver the energy of four million barrels of oil per day. Wind and solar cannot do the job, and may delay the real answer too long. Still, all kinds of clean energy, plus conservation, plus reducing deforestation, will be needed to help the poor half of the world, and for civilization to survive through this century.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

"Clean Coal" and Global Warming

The name “Clean Coal” has been in the news over the last few decades, during discussions of air pollution at first, and more recently when talking about Global Warming. In fact, the name that should have been used is something like, “Merely Half-Dirty Coal.” Newer plants may come closer to “Clean Coal”, but they are probably decades away.
What is really meant by the term Clean Coal was shown clearly in an article in the New York Times, August 4, 2000. The article was titled, ”Subsidies for Clean Coal Technology Badly Misplaced”. It described Congressional moves to encourage better coal burning technology, and subsidies for plants to apply scrubbers to coal plant effluents.
A table of EMISSIONS versus COST of plants (www.eia.doe.gov) was introduced as follows:
ADDING IT UP TO CLEAN COAL? --New processes for burning coal have lowered emissions, but coal still produces much more pollution than natural gas.
EMISSIONS COST
Sulfur Nitrogen Carbon Plant Per Megawatt Fuel (2000) Per One
SO2 NO CO2 Capacity Million BTU
(pounds per megawatt-hour)
Traditional Coal 0.20 1.11 1,897 $90,000 $1.20
New Technology Coal 0.10 0.56 1,897 110,000 $1.20
Natural Gas 0 0.06 842 60,000 $4.30
* (Nuclear) 0 0 0 ** **
* Additional entry that I believe should have been included for comparison.
** Nuclear plant costs vary enormously, but a recent statement from China, that they will build 30 nuclear plants for $50 billion ($1.7 Billion per plant), shows what can be done. Although the cost of nuclear fuel has increased recently, it is still only a fraction of fossil fuel costs.
The main information to get from this table, is that scrubbers only cut sulfur and nitric oxides in half (merely half-dirty coal), but have no effect on Greenhouse Gas, CO2. Also, natural gas is better than coal for all emissions, particularly CO2; nuclear is far superior to all fossil fuels.