Antinuclear

Electricity from nuclear energy declining, but electricity from wind energy increasing

While the news may have the nuclear industry crying in its beer, the renewable energy picture is a much rosier one.

Wind power (which is actually a form of solar power) is also certainly making its mark; including in Australia. Nearly a quarter of South Australia’s electricity came from wind farms during the 2011-12 financial year.

Nuclear Power Is Just So Passé by Energy Matters, 16 Dec 12 In a bit of welcome news, it appears nuclear energy based electricity generation has been flat and will likely reduce in the years ahead.

According to the Earth Policy Institute, nuclear electricity-generating capacity has actually fallen 5 percent between
2006 – 2011 and is likely to drop off further as nuclear power plants are decommissioned faster than new ones are built….. “The average age of nuclear reactors operating today is 27 years; the 142 reactors that have already retired were just 23 years old on average when they closed. Many nuclear reactors have been granted operating extensions, usually for 20 years, beyond their typical design lifetime of 40 years,” says the Institute.

However, granting extensions is understandably becoming less  attractive since the Fukushima disaster.

While the news may have the nuclear industry crying in its beer, the renewable energy picture is a much rosier one. The Institute says
clean electricity generation utilizing the massive nuclear reactor
situated a relatively safe 149 million kilometres+ away from us (the
sun) has grown 62% per year since 2006.

Wind power (which is actually a form of solar power) is also certainly making its mark; including in Australia. Nearly a quarter of South Australia’s electricity came from wind farms during the 2011-12 financial year.

The Institute says China plans to increase its current estimated
60,000 megawatts of grid-connected wind power capacity to 100,000
megawatts and more solar PV was added in the EU last year than any
other source of electricity generation.

“As this story unfolds, it is becoming increasingly clear that we can
design an energy economy that is at once low-carbon and low-risk.”
http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=351

December 17, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized