BP Solar turns profit

[Sikander]

We desperately need a new refinery in California, and I agree that nuclear power is the way to go for electricity.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Skywise
Nuke plants
Refineries
Hydro Plants
Windmills
Solar homes

We just went over why solar will never work on a large scale and why it is totaly unfeasable in most of the country. Wind power is a good idea but to be economical it can only really be put in high wind areas like the coast or mountain passes and it needs large amounts of land in order to generate decent amounts of electricity so it will also remain a niche player. Hydro is damn good (if you pardon the pun) but there are few new areas we could build dams and even then the eviromentalists would be up in arms over the idea. I do think our country needs more big dams since they provide the cheapest source of non-green house producing electricity plus provide water for crops and cities. Out west we especially need the increased water storage capacity.

That just leaves nuclear power or fossil fuels to provide the bulk of our electricity needs and faced with those options nuclear power is much better for the enviroment and it doesn't support oil dictators in various parts of the world so I'm all for nuclear power.

[Az]

Hydro+Nuke+ a bit of solar and tide.

Fusion > *

[Spec]

I understand that nuke plants are your best option but someday, Chernobyl will happen again...Where and when, we dont know, but it will.

[Dinner]

So we've had one bad accident in 50 years and that amounts to a good safety record. Especially since the Soviets knew their design was substandard, that the construction didn't even meet those substandard specs, and that the people running that plant weren't properly trained. Dispite all the Soviet corner cutting and bad decisions making Soviet reactors the world's most dangerous we still only got one case.

With proper design, regulation, and training nuclear power is extremely safe and cost effective. Even the end waste can be recycled, refined, and reused so that it isn't a problem. It certainly produces less pollution then even the cleanest fossil fuel powered plant.

[Spec]

Originally posted by Oerdin
So we've had one bad accident in 50 years and that amounts to a good safety record. Especially since the Soviets knew their design was substandard, that the construction didn't even meet those substandard specs, and that the people running that plant weren't properly trained. Dispite all the Soviet corner cutting and bad decisions making Soviet reactors the world's most dangerous we still only got one case.

With proper design, regulation, and training nuclear power is extremely safe and cost effective. Even the end waste can be recycled, refined, and reused so that it isn't a problem. It certainly produces less pollution then even the cleanest fossil fuel powered plant.

I couldn't agree more, but still, accidents happen. Maybe my fear is based on the fact that I have no idea on how nuke plants work and/or I dont know the safety precautions after a breakdown.

[Dinner]

How do nuclear plants work?

Basically they use steam power to make turbines spin. The nuclear reactor creates the heat and a heat exchanger (similiar to the heater in your car) is used to boil water producing the steam. It's a new twist on 19th century steam power.

[Az]

everything is the same principle. make something spin, that will make the magnet spin, that will make electricity.

[pchang]

3400 sq. m != 3.4 sq. km.
1,000,000 sq. m = 1 sq. km.

You will have to redo your math again.

1,680,000 plants using 3400 sq. m. of space =
5,712 sq. km. We could probably get that by covering all the desert areas of CA, AR, and NV.

The Sahara would be a good spot fo Africa and Europe

[Odin]

People's aversion to nuclear energy is a result of scaremongering by eco-nuts after Three-Mile Island.

Oh, and I like the solar-power in the Sahara idea. Wind power has great potential around here, this is one of the windiest areas in the US.

[alva]

Hmm, so basically we would switch our energy dependency from the ME to Afrika, yep, that sure sounds like a great improvement.


Solar energy

[alva]

Re: BP Solar turns profit

Originally posted by DanS
I think this is good news. BP Solar has turned a profit for the first time on about $400 million in business. It also is enjoying steady growth in the sector (on the order of 40%).

I did some checking on the cost of solar photovoltaics a couple of months ago and it still doesn't make sense by a long shot for what I would like to use it for, but it's slowly getting there.

My uncle uses something like that and he can heat all the water used by the family ( 5 peeps) to about 40C (a bit more than body temperatue). Of course our prices are higher than yours but then again, our climate isn't all that great.

He is verry happy about it, he said that the sysem will pay itself back in about 10 years and that was with cheaper energy prices. So that number prob dropped to 7. Not bad imo.

[Az]

Sahara = hardly better than ME.

[:) Smiley]

The ideal place to put a solar power plant is in space, where there's no atmosphere to get in the way, and no nighttime either. Power would be beamed down with microwaves to recievers, where it would heat water and spin turbines. A proposal to build such satellites first came up in the 1970s during the first oil crisis.

Using materials mined on the Moon, the project was supposed to turn a profit around now had it been started in the 70s.

[Az]

microwaves get absorbed in all sort of stuff, contrary to popular belief. might as well throw a cable back to earth.