Amory promotes micropower as the great new hope for energy and how it is better than oil, coal and nuclear energy. I am with him that micropower is better than oil and coal for electricity. However, micropower is mostly diesel, biomass and natural gas of small and big sizes. Natural gas has 4 deaths per TWH (Externe source). So 2500 Twh (to displace nuclear power) would be 10,000 deaths per year. The diesel (oil) portion is 35 deaths per TWH. The biomass about 10 deaths per TWH (35,000 deaths per year if diesel was the main source). The blended rate of deaths per TWH from micropower is over 12 deaths per TWH. Far higher than the 0.65 deaths per TWH calculated by Externe for nuclear power. Even if the micropower deaths per TWH was cut in half for lower distribution losses the number is still far higher. Diesel and natural gas are not renewable. Over 75% of the power that Lovins is talking about is diesel, natural gas and biomass.
Amory also tries to use distorted statistics to indicate that nuclear power will not be growing or is too slow to add power.
Nuclear power had massive growth through the 1970s and even through the 1990s. This was because of improved operations and power uprates and the during the eighties with the French buildout. The new nuclear buildout will start having large impact starting at the end of 2010 with two reactors in China and then in 2011 with over ten reactor completions.
2010 9 new reactors, 6.2 GWe
2011 11 new reactors, 9.3 GWe
2012 10 new reactors, 9.92 GWe
2013 12 new reactors, 13.08 GWe
2014 14 new reactors, 13.63 GWe
My projection for world nuclear generation is
2009 2559 TWhe
2010 2700 TWhe
2011 2800 TWhe
2012 2885 TWhe
2013 2964 TWhe
2014 3120 TWhe
World wind is now at about 300 TWhe and solar electricity is at 20 TWHe.
I agree with your critique. Nuclear power is clearly the most efficient and promising source of terrestrial energy for the future. Even Stewart Brand, the champion of the Whole Earth, agrees !
Posted by: TahoeBlue | August 05, 2010 at 04:13 PM