Earthquake in Japan

[Tatsujin]

Map is fake.

..and some of his statement as well:

The death toll may climb to over 30,000 within days, and top 100,000 within a few weeks.

[SignOfZeta]

There are risks with Nuclear power, but when properly managed, the risks are very small.

Yeah, the problem is that the shit won't be properly managed. The job of any corporation is to make money, and they will skimp on anything in the impossible quest to increase profits every year for eternity. The more time passes between tragedies (nuclear, coal mining or oil spill related) the more complacent they will be. The risks are simply way way too high, and if anything good will come of this tragedy in Japan (which might yet get much worse still) I hope it will be the end of the foolish nuclear vision forever.

The future is solar. Period. All energy on Earth, or any other planet, all the coal, all the fission material, all of it, ultimately came from the sun or from prehistoric exploding supernovea. Obviously solar tech isn't where it needs to be to take over coal, but it f*cking would be if we spent as much money on it as we do on nuclear. The reason we haven't is because solar is free, and wide implementation of it would massively upset the existing power structure of energy companies. Many people in the world wouldn't even need any power company at all once the tech got better (more efficient cels, better batteries, and more efficient home electronics in general). Obviously the power company cartels can't have that. They love nuclear power because its something that only they are huge enough to be able to pull off.

[Tatsujin]

solar? do you know the required size you need to replace just one reactor? and are you aware of the required energy and resources to build such a panel?

[BlueBMW]

I am a huge proponent of solar and wind technology.  I just don't see it being able to replace fossil sources on the scale that nuclear can.  (Yet)  I would love to see the world powered by primarily renewable sources though.  Modern reactor design is leaps and bounds beyond the reactors of the 60s and 70s (like the LWR reactors of the Fukushima plant)  I see nuclear as being the only non fossil source that can produce a large enough amount of electricity with consistency.  I wont ignore the issue of spent fuel and waste but again modern breeder reactor desisgns consume much less reactor fuel and also output much less waste.

If anything, this tradgedy in Japan should make a push for the modernization of nuclear power facilities.

[SignOfZeta]

solar? do you know the required size you need to replace just one reactor? and are you aware of the required energy and resources to build such a panel?

Sure, its totally impossible at the moment, but my government spends four times as much money on nuclear research as it does on all other renewable resources combined. If it were a priority, it would happen. There is far more than enough free and totally safe solar energy hitting the planet 24/7 to power everything we need, and the sun has four billion years left before it runs out. Best of all, solar has zero effect on global warming, and can't meltdown, so you don't have to worry about trusting companies like Exxon, or BP or whoever to not cheap out and kill us.

"This plant is totally safe...unless an earthquake hits in which case we're totally f*cked." "Roll the dice" is not an acceptable model, IMO, when alternatives exist.

I read a great article about a year ago where a guy who lives on Lake Michigan managed to build his house totally off the grid. If you've ever been to lake Michigan you know its pretty damn gloomy weather-wise (looks like Virginia Beach in Februray, most of the time) so if he can do it then so can everyone else. The only problem, of course, is that it took tens of thousands of dollars of his own money to do it, and most people don't have that kind of cash.

[Necromancer]

Best of all, solar has zero effect on global warming, and can't meltdown, so you don't have to worry about trusting companies like Exxon, or BP or whoever to not cheap out and kill us.

Yeah, you just have to worry about all the heavy metals required to build the panels and batteries and their regular replacement/disposal.

I read a great article about a year ago where a guy who lives on Lake Michigan managed to build his house totally off the grid. If you've ever been to lake Michigan you know its pretty damn gloomy weather-wise (looks like Virginia Beach in Februray, most of the time) so if he can do it then so can everyone else. The only problem, of course, is that it took tens of thousands of dollars of his own money to do it, and most people don't have that kind of cash.

If he's like most 'off the grid' people he's using a diesel generator for 1/4 of his energy needs, meaning that he's not helping the environment one bit.

[SignOfZeta]

Yeah, you just have to worry about all the heavy metals required to build the panels and batteries and their regular replacement/disposal.

Pu-lease. Like that shit rates compared to impending nuclear meltdown. Jeezus, don't pretend you actually think that.

Besides, this is, again, "current tech" thinking that prevents future tech from flourishing like it should. You don't even necessarily need photovoltaic cels to use "solar" power in some cases. For example, virtually everyone in Arizona, Nevada, etc owns a gas or electric hot water heater and they really don't need to. There are old school, low tech water heating methods that could be use that would save that electricity for other uses.

I read a great article about a year ago where a guy who lives on Lake Michigan managed to build his house totally off the grid. If you've ever been to lake Michigan you know its pretty damn gloomy weather-wise (looks like Virginia Beach in Februray, most of the time) so if he can do it then so can everyone else. The only problem, of course, is that it took tens of thousands of dollars of his own money to do it, and most people don't have that kind of cash.

If he's like most 'off the grid' people he's using a diesel generator for 1/4 of his energy needs, meaning that he's not helping the environment one bit.

I found the house (I think this is the one). He has a wood burning stove for %20 of his heating needs. Not perfect, but not that bad either. If this house was in, say, North Carolina, he wouldn't need that extra %20 at all. Keep in mind that Michigan is colder than f*ck, with many days in the Winter below zero F, and not all that much sun. The lakes...if you haven't seen them, they are almost indistinguishable from oceans, you get tons of wind and even less sun.

http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/overview.cfm?projectId=559

[vestcoat]

...if anything good will come of this tragedy in Japan (which might yet get much worse still) I hope it will be the end of the foolish nuclear vision forever.

I hope so, but I doubt it.  The turmoil in the Middle East has already been all the excuse needed to forget about Deepwater Horizon and approve a new drilling operation in the Gulf.  Japan's meltdown will probably be forgotten just as fast.

[Necromancer]

Pu-lease. Like that shit rates compared to impending nuclear meltdown. Jeezus, don't pretend you actually think that.

Nope, but neither am I so naive to believe that renewable energy is all unicorns and rainbows.

Besides, this is, again, "current tech" thinking that prevents future tech from flourishing like it should.

Yeah, I hate it when common sense and practicality get in the way.  Even if battery energy density (which despite the evil power companies has increased at a healthy rate due to the demands of the electronics industry) was ten times greater and everything plugged in was ten times more energy efficient, the amount of batteries needed to ensure uninterrupted power would easily deplete all known supplies of raw materials.

By the way, did you hear about the guy in Wyoming that invented a carburetor that would let his car get 200mpg?  It's true.

[Joe Redifer]

Here's the thing:  Nuclear reactors MIGHT melt down in a very-worst-case scenario.  However with solar energy, batteries always MUST be replaced and disposing of batteries does not bode well for the environment.  It's like the compact fluorescent light bulb.  Uses less energy, yes, but causes way more environmental damage when you throw them away because they contain mercury.  Now CFLs have a tiny little thing written on the box that says "please recycle".  How many people are going to do that?  Not very many when you discover what a pain it is to do it.  Solar isn't the way to go. You shouldn't need to supplement it with ANYTHING no matter where you live.

[Tatsujin]

Best of all, solar has zero effect on global warming,

This I've heard is not entirely true. The dark surface does keep heat on earth which else would have been rejected back to space. big panel arrays in deserts etc. will cause a global warming.

[rodek]

Here's the thing:  Nuclear reactors MIGHT melt down in a very-worst-case scenario.  However with solar energy, batteries always MUST be replaced and disposing of batteries does not bode well for the environment.  It's like the compact fluorescent light bulb.  Uses less energy, yes, but causes way more environmental damage when you throw them away because they contain mercury.  Now CFLs have a tiny little thing written on the box that says "please recycle".  How many people are going to do that?  Not very many when you discover what a pain it is to do it.  Solar isn't the way to go. You shouldn't need to supplement it with ANYTHING no matter where you live.

Sorta off topic.. but I have worked in the sign industry for well over 12 years. We have been thowing out our fluorecent bulbs(lamps) in the garbage for ever. Some of the bigger companies that I've worked for did a lot of re-lamps and we had days were we had 100+ lamps we smashed and threw in our dumpsters. They did have a place to recycle them(for many years) but we would have to pay a company to dispose of them.  SO..... they all end up in landfills. I assume the same will happen with all these consumers buying CFL's. 90% will go in the trash. I don't have CFL's in my house for that reason.. I switched them all to Halogen.

[TheClash603]

The same people who mention Pearl Harbor are probably are the same people that talk bad about reparations.  Ironic?

[Joe Redifer]

And where do you get this information from?  I am of the opinion that people should not be paid money just because other people waaay in the past were slaves.

[grahf]

These days in Japan solar is used as a supplemental power source. All of the housing companies offer houses with solar arrays built in. The goal is not to go off-grid, but merely to help during peak energy usage. For example: In the summer during the day, the solar energy will offset the air conditioner most people are using.