A lot of
misinformation about our sources of electrical energy has been circulating, claiming
nuclear plant construction and maintenance produce lots of CO2. That’s true to
some degree, but let’s put that in perspective.
Solar and wind produce two to four times the CO2 produced by
a nuclear plant per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced. And that doesn’t
include energy storage that would be necessitated by reliance on intermittent
solar and wind energy. When as-yet-to-be-developed storage is factored in, the
CO2 footprint of intermittent sources will be dramatically higher. Nuclear
produces electricity that is nearly always available at an average efficiency
of 92 percent. Solar and wind 15-25 percent depending on the location and time
of year.
California’s (and Germany’s) dirty secret is that since wind
and solar are so intermittent, and we need electricity 24/7, the electricity we
are using at night while charging our Teslas comes mostly from natural gas and
coal. With nuclear, that would not be necessary. California’s and Germany’s CO2
emissions have gone up or remained flat since they decommissioned nuclear and
relied more on solar and wind, while those states and countries who have maintained
their nuclear fleets have lowered CO2 emissions from electrical energy
production significantly.
The fact is that we need solar, wind, and nuclear if
we are to have reliable and sustainable low emission electricity. In the words
of James Hansen, the NASA scientist who first alerted us to the danger of
global warming in 1988, “I don’t see a way forward without nuclear power. Nuclear
will make the difference between the world missing crucial climate targets or
achieving them.”