Nuclear Energy

I saw his speech today while at the gym. This is one area where I agree with Obama on and that is the building of More Nuclear Power Plants. No way we should not have been building them for the last 30 years, now we are behind the curve. After all; all these plug in hybrids will need electrical power and our power grid is way behind. The power grid renewal is something else I wouldn't mind him doing some stimulus spending on.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/02/obama-offers-loan-guarantees-for-first-new-nuclear-power-plant-in-three-decades/1

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/business/energy-environment/17nukes.html

I agree... the democrats have obstructed nuclear for too long. Safety has come a long way, and I'm optimistic that 3 mile island and Chernobyl are memories at this point.

and where will they dump the waste they havent yet figured out how to neutralize? thats my only problem with it.

floridafun wrote:and where will they dump the waste they havent yet figured out how to neutralize? thats my only problem with it.

I agree that is a problem... a big one... do you think it's bigger than spewing coal smoke into the atmosphere? Honest question, I'm on the fence.

Pez wrote:

floridafun wrote:and where will they dump the waste they havent yet figured out how to neutralize? thats my only problem with it.

I agree that is a problem... a big one... do you think it's bigger than spewing coal smoke into the atmosphere? Honest question, I'm on the fence.

We should build dams, everywhere, to produce electricity. I'll be the dam engineer and we'll create tons of dam jobs. There will be dam laborers, dam steelworkers, dam masons, dam designers, dam truck drivers, dam operators, dam inspectors, and other dam jobs that I can't think of.

No noo-klir waste or air pollution.

Dam it man Dam it!

As for the environmental impact, I dont necessarily see hydroelectric as being "the" answer. Interestingly, you look at the Ozarks area of Missouri, and a single dam created what must be billions in tourism dollars to an otherwise bleak, rural and poverty stricken area of the midwest. I'm not aware the extent to which they are using it for power generation.

Energy is a problem, and like most problems, they start small and slowly get bigger. Soon the growth of the problem accelerates until it becomes urgent, at which point there will be huge demand globally for green energy. Where congress' gridlock is hampering America's future is in the investment and spending of stimulus funds to position the United States as the worldwide leader in production of windmills, solar cells, and hydroelectric engineering.

Someone in the world will get those jobs and those exports for the next 50-60 years as countries realize globally that there really are no other options. Who is going to build the wind turbines to provide power to, say, India? How many billions and billions of dollars would enter the US economy if that builder was GE?

I'm off the fence... nuclear is a stupid idea, a poor export and has too many negative environmental impacts. lets spend $83 billion on a vast wind farm in west Texas... perfect the technology and then sell it. The world will not wait. Someone will get those jobs, and the Obama administration will lay the foundation for huge dividends if the US gets those jobs.

The only problem with Dams is you change the environment. You disrupt the actual fish breeding grounds. The US is actually removing smaller dams.

http://www.michigandnr.com/PUBLICATIONS/PDFS/fishing/dams/EcologyOfDamRemoval.pdf

http://www.americanrivers.org/our-work/restoring-rivers/

http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/1639

The environmental effects of wind turbines is also on the rise. You have bird kills and bat kills.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39941-2004Dec31.html

Then there is the health impact from wind farms.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=12667

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm0Oe8J6qT8

Nuclear you have the waste problem. You should be able to bury the waste in Nevada, like the tunnels they have already constructed. I still say shoot it off into deep space. After all what is space but radiation. It would employ people to build the rockets and give NASA a cash infusion.

Are you sure GE manufactures there wind turbines in the U.S.? Top 10 manufacturers list GE as US/Germany. The only U.S. company in the top 10.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wind_turbine_manufacturers

Scooby01_98 wrote:Are you sure GE manufactures there wind turbines in the U.S.? Top 10 manufacturers list GE as US/Germany. The only U.S. company in the top 10.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wind_turbine_manufacturers

interesting... was kinda using GE as an example of an American company... any American company will do... I would think shipping from Germany would be somewhat prohibitive...

Pez wrote:

Scooby01_98 wrote:Are you sure GE manufactures there wind turbines in the U.S.? Top 10 manufacturers list GE as US/Germany. The only U.S. company in the top 10.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wind_turbine_manufacturers

interesting... was kinda using GE as an example of an American company... any American company will do... I would think shipping from Germany would be somewhat prohibitive...

I understand that. I was actually surprised at the number of companies that already manufacture wind turbines. So I don't see that now as being that big of a boom for manufacturing on American soil.

I was mostly kidding about the dams, dammit. They are ok in certain situations but are a hinderance like you mentioned to the yummy fish and boat travel. I like the idea of windmills, but I'm not at all familiar with the productivity rates. Example, I have no idea how much potential electricity 10-80' diameter windmills can produce versus a traditional coal fired plant or a dam for that matter.

And whats up with the bat craze? Scoob mentioned negative effects that windmills have on bats. We have roadway projects where the contractors can't cut down trees between certain months of the year due to the bats mating season. I understand they eat insects but come on.

Much like the dwindling of bees, bat numbers are decreasing. I did a google search for the fun of it.

1 bat eats 600 to 1200 insects an hour (I need at least one at my house for the mosquitoes this summer).
In the desert they act like the honey bees.
In the rainforest they help continue the growth, by eating fruits causing new trees to grow.

The windmills are bad because the windmills screw with the bats radar.

http://www.nature.org/magazine/spring2009/features/art27403.html

http://www.batsgauteng.org.za/BatBenefits.htm

http://www.todayshorse.com/Articles/Barn/Bats.HTM