It Really Depends...
The
issue of which energy option (or alternative) is “best” actually depends on the
local environmental, social, political, and economic situations that exist in
each area.
While
it might make for good headlines to see one sector of the energy industry
‘lining up’ against another sector over environmental or economic reasons, the
reality is that our rapidly growing demand for energy and the increasingly
unstable worldwide geopolitical make up both mean that we need all the
domestically produced energy we can get.
In
areas like Texas , Ohio ,
Pennsylvania , Illinois ,
Indiana , or West Virginia , where there is strong demand
for inexpensive, abundant, and clean baseload energy and where there is very
easy access to massive coal reserves, it only makes sense to use a local, domestic
energy resource like coal. In an area like the Canadian province of Quebec ,
where there is access to abundant hydro resources, it makes sense to rely on
that generation option. It makes sense to build wind generation options in Nebraska and off the coast of Massachusetts , where wind resources are
abundant. Nuclear makes sense in areas where there is easy access to supplies
of enriched uranium and in areas where there may not be abundant coal or hydro
options available.
When it comes to energy generation, there is no one size fits all
answer. One energy option will be the “best” fit in one area, while another is
a “best” fit in another. North America needs
as much domestically-produced, affordable, and clean energy as we can get. Coal,
nuclear, hydro, wind, gas, biomass … they’re all options that need to be
considered for each jurisdiction.
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I have in my a hand a model of a Uranium Fuel pellet. It is about the size of the tip of my pinkie finger down to the first knuckle. 3 quarters of an inch long and half an inch in diameter. The accompanying literature says it's the energy equivalent of 1800 lb. of coal . (almost a ton)
So imagine the comparative difficulty of shipping Fuel pellets to wherever they're needed as opposed to shipping a tons of coal.
This completely negates the argument of having to use local resources because they're local. It would cost around the same to ship Fuel pellets across country to West Virginia as it would to ship coal from a West Virginia coal mine to a West Virginia coal fired generator.
Then keep in mind that while coal maybe a local resource the pollution it produces goes world wide. CO2, Soot, Sulphur Dioxides, Heavy Metals and even radioactive isotopes are released into the environment from coal.
France with their 80% nuclear power is a good example of what Nuclear can do. The cleanest air in Europe and excess power to sell to other countries.
I'm rather disheartened to see the ACC on this side of the debate, i mean yes, it is an organization based on the advancement of coal power, but on a broader scope we need to look at all forms of energy! coal, nuclear, wind, solar, hydroelectric, natural gas, AMERICAN (and I can't stress that enough) oil, and biofuels. America is in an energy crisis, and ALL energy (that comes from our own soil anyways) is good energy. Nuclear power also creates jobs the same way coal, and also "greener" forms of energy would. All good ways to boost our economy :)
Brady,
Why would you be disappointed or disheartened by the ACC's argument? You are making the SAME argument as we did when we said,
"When it comes to energy generation, there is no one size fits all answer. One energy option will be the “best” fit in one area, while another is a “best” fit in another. North America needs as much domestically-produced, affordable, and clean energy as we can get. Coal, nuclear, hydro, wind, gas, biomass … they’re all options that need to be considered for each jurisdiction."
because right now it gives the impression that you oppose nuclear power by having you on the "NO" side, although i suppose the question does contain the word "best"... as you say it is not the case that you oppose nuclear power, i apologize, and i suppose i should have read more of your posts on this subject.