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Read this for the context. The first set of scenarios looks at the possible build out of Gen II+/III/III+ thermal reactors (i.e., current and advanced water-moderated reactors: PWRs, BWRs, HWRs etc.), over a 50 year time frame (2011 to 2060). The focus of this exercise is not to predict which reactor type(s) will predominate. In the next 1-2 decades, I […]
Filed under: Nuclear, Scenarios | 73 Comments »
Back in April 2010, I wrote a post “Nuclear century outlook – crystal ball gazing by the WNA”. It looked at an interesting study, undertaken by the World Nuclear Association, that made some low/high bound projections for electricity production between 2008 and 2100, including nuclear, new renewables, fossil fuels with CCS, etc. (see figure to […]
Filed under: Nuclear, Scenarios | 42 Comments »
When ecologists, policy makers, or the public, think about the visceral impacts of climate change on Australia’s natural systems, World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park (KNP), located in the seasonal tropics of the Northern Territory, is high on the at-risk list. But looking deeper into the human-driven processes now threatening KNP, there is actually a […]
Filed under: Hot News, Impacts | 12 Comments »
There has been a lot of hype recently about the “Travelling Wave Reactor” (TWR), thanks largely to a very popular TED talk given recently by none other than Microsoft founder and multi-billionaire Bill Gates. In the 20 min talk, he describes the urgent need for cheap, abundant, low-CO2 energy, if we are to successfully mitigate […]
Filed under: Emissions, Nuclear | 34 Comments »
Back in 2001, Dr George Stanford conducted an interview with the National Policy Analysis Center on the IFR. Nearly ten years later, in September 2010, George has updated this material, which is pitched squarely a layman audience. I post the updated version below (7-page printable PDF version here), since it fits like a glove with […]
Filed under: IFR FaD, Nuclear | 151 Comments »
When I was in Idaho Falls in August 2010, one of the places I visited was the Experimental Breeder Reactor I. It’s now a publicly accessible U.S. National Historic Landmark, and has some incredible experimental X-39 atomic aircraft engines sitting out the front (see little inset photo). I’ll talk more about this visit in a […]
Filed under: Emissions, Nuclear | 37 Comments »
I was asked by the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper to write a short piece last week which addressed the question “Does all the recent rain across the country prove man made climate change is real?“, in less than 500 words. My response, given below, appeared in the print edition on Thursday 9 September 2010: ———————————— Does […]
Filed under: Clim Ch Q&A, Impacts | 90 Comments »
When I was at UNSW yesterday — prior to my debate with Mark Diesendorf — I met up with Ted Trainer, author of ‘Renewable Energy Cannot Sustain a Consumer Society“. We had a great chat, and I think I even inched him a little towards IFRs (ever the optimist). Anyway, Ted asked me to post […]
Filed under: Emissions, Renewables | 82 Comments »
There are many topics in the IFR FaD series that I want to develop in sequence — and in some detail. But for the moment, here’s a little diversion. People often complain that sodium-cooled fast reactors are about as easy to control as wild stallions — at least compared to the docile mares that are […]
Filed under: IFR FaD, Nuclear | 71 Comments »
Open Thread 5 has spooled off the BNC front page, so it’s time for new one. The Open Thread is a general discussion forum, where you can talk about whatever you like — there is nothing ‘off topic’ here — within reason. So get up on your soap box! The standard commenting rules of courtesy apply, […]
Filed under: Emissions, Open Thread | 655 Comments »
About 1 year ago, I posted on BNC two important pieces by Peter Lang – “Does wind power reduce carbon emissions?” and a follow-up reply. Together, these stirred up considerable discussion (about 500 comments to date) and raised important questions about the ability of wind-energy to reduce emissions from burning fossil fuels, when natural gas usage for […]
Filed under: Emissions, Renewables | 134 Comments »
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