What Will the World of Clean Energy Look Like in 100 Years?
I wrote a post recently on nuclear energy and how its advocates tend to denigrate wind and solar. Commenting on it, my colleague Mario Gottfried offers a note about nuclear reactors’ lasting 100 years.
100 years? Obviously, neither Mario nor I will be here to verify this, but I can’t imagine that Earth’s civilization of the year 2114 (if it exists at all) will have the vaguest resemblance to the world of today. Of course, if we ultimately develop a safe way to split large atoms of elements that are fairly common, or to fuse hydrogen, progress in this arena could conceivably slow down or even stop, as there will be no further reason to go past that point; energy really will have become “too cheap to meter.”
Of course, that brings to mind the economic implications. We would be well on our way to a clean energy future today if it weren’t for the all-powerful interests of the fossil fuel energy industry, the wealthiest organization in the history of humankind.
One would have to be incredibly lucky to be able to predict what the future in energy generation will be in 100 years. To be sure enough to risk the immediate future of the whole civilization (?) [or population, I don’t really think we are getting more civilized- the contrary is more true], to trash all the efforts done in renewable energy just because a few very intelligent (?) scientists say so. We have already proof of the kind of results real intelligent scientists made with “perfect” nuclear reactors.
A nuclear generator would use enormous amounts of water to generate steam to supply the power for the generators. We are presently having problems with potable water for human consumption, and that is, without new nuclear reactors, how many nuclear reactors will be necessary to supply all the electrical energy needed for the future needs?
Wind and solar PV don’t use water to generate electricity. There are other sources like piezoelectric, photosynthesis, which may grow in demand in small scales. Wave power, current hydro power, all don’t “modify” [or treat’] water to generate electricity.
It is unwise to stop developing one technology just to benefit another, we all know the benefits of having different sources of supply (in business, in technology, in every aspect of our lives).[Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!].
Nuclear has any deniers, but still, nuclear will certainly play a part in our future’s energy supply, either we like it or not.