kolm wrote:(a) energies are not all alike,
(b) net energy calculations are not always the only thing that matters,
(c) people won't act 'rational' (maximize energy flow over lifespan of humanity), but what economists call 'rational' (maximize short-time earnings).
Is a wind generated watt different than a coal generated watt as far as the
end user is concerned? These statements are just semantics.
kolm wrote:The problem is that they are not very reliable. (Ask the danes about it.) People don't want unreliable power supply, so power suppliers need backups, either by call options on power or by back-up plants.
Coal and nuclear provide base load and will for the forseeable future. Wind and solar will supplement.
kolm wrote:First of all, Parson type steam turbine couples work at about 40%, not 33%, and they are used in the power industry if it pays off economically. In NPP, you usually don't want many things that can jam, because down-time and maintenance costs you dearly, hence you usually accept lower efficiency than theoretically achievable. Second, even 33% is not too far from carnot efficiency, hence I do not understand what you mean by 'not efficient at all'.
Forget Parson. Whats the efficiency of the average steam turbine generator in the US?
About 33%. Not too far off from carnot? Lets see-
TH=1005 degF =813.71K
TL= 95 degF =308.15K
nth=1-TL/TH
=1-.38
Carnot = 62%Yeah,
good call 33% is close to 62%
But who cares about these useless thermodynamic thingies that add nothing to the conversation besides................. proving you are full of crap.
Where does nuclear energy suck air out of the atmosphere?
kolm wrote:At its ventilation openings. Cool air is used to cool cooling water.
Sure, but where does the steam
burn oxygen which was the point I was making? Exactly, thats just taken out of context.
It uses a nuclear reaction to boil water, the rest is no different from a coal plant.
kolm wrote:Hell yes it is. If you have a leakage in the cooling water containment of the coal plant, you can make a guesstimate how long you can run this thing and go on; in the NPP, you have to shut down immediately and file an incident report.
And that happens all the time right? I was refering to the generation process. Again useless semantics taken out of context that add nothing to the converstaion.
Nevermind the air car, my point is, and always has been, that if were could develop an infastructure that was dependent on electricity alone, we have a
chance to achieve sustainability. Sure there are a lot more pieces to the puzzle.