• smegforbrains@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    Yes this is true. And again: Me being against nuclear power plants does not make me a coal proponent. I think we have to get rid of both and aim for 100% renewables, which is feasible according to current studies.

    For me the most danger lies in storing high level radioactive waste on the surface where it’s prone to accidents and can easily contaminate air and ground water.

    • Tak@lemmy.ml
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      9 months ago

      How do you think renewable energy can be stored?

      I don’t really know of a storage system that is free of risk. The Three Gorges Dam is more potentially deadly than any reactor for instance as it has 400 million people at risk.

      • smegforbrains@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        I’m no proponent of these massive structures with unimaginable impact on their environment either. Also Germany will probably never have a structure of this size in the foreseeable future. In order to produce enough energy during times when wind and solar energy is scarce, Germany wants to build 40 climate neutral hydrogen power plants until the 2030s in order to phase out coal power production. As far as I understand it we will therefore not need more batteries.

        • Tak@lemmy.ml
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          9 months ago

          Neutral hydrogen power plants? If it’s not green hydrogen it’s just fossil fuels with more steps and on top of that hydrogen is difficult to store causing it to lose upwards of 60% of the energy put into it.

          Then what? Are they going to burn it or are they going to run it through fuel cells that use expensive catalysts?

          • smegforbrains@lemmy.ml
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            9 months ago

            I think the idea is to produce the green hydrogen by employing renewables during time of high production yields and using this produced hydrogen when the renewables don’t produce enough. This is what I gathered but I’m not 100% sure.

            • Tak@lemmy.ml
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              9 months ago

              That seems like a misguided approach because green hydrogen is not really efficient. To use it to fuel mobile applications is one thing but to use it for the electrical grid is a misguided venture in my opinion.

              I think pumped hydro is likely a better medium with about 80% efficiency while green hydrogen is lucky to get half that.

              • smegforbrains@lemmy.ml
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                9 months ago

                I don’t think it’s a question of efficiency. It’s a question of producing the least amount of CO2 as possible. This is where green hydrogen shines.

                • Tak@lemmy.ml
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                  9 months ago

                  It really is though. If you need twice as many solar panels to make the same energy it’s a very pertinent problem.

                  • smegforbrains@lemmy.ml
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                    9 months ago

                    I don’t think that’s right, since during times of high solar or wind production, more energy is produced than is consumed. This energy will then be used to create hydrogen. This is a very battery like concept which enables the buffering of renewable energy using hydrogen production. Because of this assymmetry we do not need twice the amount of renewable power plants.