Re: Alternative Energy

On Sat, 25 Feb 2006 02:41:35 +0000 someone who may be Gunnar Mallon
<gunnar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote this:-

just wanted to see your take on what alternative energy would be a true
replacement of nuclear energy.

It rather depends on what question you are asking. Nuclear
electricity is around 19% of UK electricity generation at the
moment, but only something like 3% of UK energy consumption.

i had a look into wind farming, but they have major drawback, alteration
of wind patterns,

Did you look at http://www.bwea.com/ref/faq.html#stop and the links
from it, or the Oxford University report linked from
http://www.bwea.com/media/news/141105.html ?

In essence the wind does not suddenly stop or start blowing and
neither is the whole of the UK becalmed for days on end.

low level noise.

Did you look at http://www.bwea.com/ref/faq.html#noise and
http://www.bwea.com/ref/faq.html#lfn and the links from them?

In essence noise and low frequency noise are not great problems.

If you really want to inform yourself on wind electricity then the
report at http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/media/list/wind.html
is a good starting point.

solar energy didn't make a good
alternative for the pollution caused by the production of the panels.

Around twenty years ago that was a major problem, but things have
moved on since then. However, solar panels that produce electricity
still need some more development before they become mass market
items.

Solar panels that produce hot water are much more developed and if
central government was committed to sustainable energy supplies it
would be putting them in the Building Standards.

so my question is: what energy source is cleaner than nuclear energy and
is a viable alternative in order to run a country the size of britain?

The UK does not run on nuclear energy and neither is it going to be
switched off tomorrow. It provides a proportion of the energy demand
of the UK. The proportion of electricity it provides can be replaced
by a mixture of energy conservation and other forms of generation.
Of these other forms of generation wind, hydro, wave, water current,
biomass are some of the more likely systems. There has also been
work on coal burning that is promising.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/infrastructure/19185/MatchingRenGenDemand/MatchingRenGenSummaryPDF
is a report on how Scotland could meet the target of 40% electricity
generation from renewable sources by 2020.



--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54
.

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