My brain finally put together the puzzle pieces about our energy conundrum today. All the things I’d been pondering finally fell into place.
It started yesterday when a Facebook friend of mine knocked our space program as a waste of money. She and I agree on many points, so I was a bit taken aback at her lack of appreciation. I made the point that many new technologies came out of the space program, though I didn’t name any specifically.
Today I realized that one of the biggest spinoff technologies from the space program is solar power and fuel cells. If it weren’t for the unique challenges of powering spacecraft, solar power wouldn’t be nearly as advanced as it is.
This morning’s insight came in the form of a tweet I sent:
Nuclear costs are skyrocketing. Solar costs are plummeting. Where should America place its energy bets?
It’s a simple, factual statement and yet it drew a lot of comments on my Facebook page.
One of the main reasons Duke Energy bought Progress Energy was to make it easier for the combined companies to finance the construction of nuclear power plants. It occurred to me recently that the race to build nuclear plants isn’t because we desperately need more sources of energy, or because power companies want to get ahead of the spiraling costs associated with them. The real race is to build the plants before they’re made obsolete by clean energy.
Cost estimates for building new nuclear plants can amount to about $7,000 per kilowatt. Progress Energy’s Turkey Point plant in Florida could cost over $8,000 per kW. Solar installations can be had now for about $5,000 per kilowatt, even before tax incentives are added in.
Nuke plants are enormously complicated beasts with countless moving parts. Solar installations have no moving parts. They’re quiet, do not pollute, and don’t require 24/7 armed security nor an army of engineers.
Some point out that the sun does not always shine, but storage solutions (like batteries) can be used. It can be done.
Up until the last year, I was comfortable with nuclear power but Fukushima and the Duke-Progress merger changed all that. It’s only a matter of time before more people realize that there are better choices available. Solar and wind are winning the economic battle.