Already a subscriber?Australia is experimenting with an energy transition reliant solely on variable renewable wind and solar energy that has no precedent for success either in achieving ultra-low emissions or in the delivery of low-cost energy.In this case the harvest must yield electricity that emits less than 50 grams of carbon per kilowatt-hour. At the same time, it must be low cost to boost economic activity and enable society to thrive and innovate.
With a renewables dominated grid, all parts of this system are expanded quite dramatically and many redundancies are baked in to ensure stable energy delivery.It works with more modest levels of renewables and vastly lower levels of redundancy. that would have outlined a nuclear system option for the NEM. That presentation contained four linked sections.
Most importantly we delve into the source of the massive energy density of nuclear power plants and link this to Albert Einstein’s key discovery of the conversion of mass to energy. Splitting the nucleus of a uranium atom gives us 20 million times more energy than burning one atom of carbon. Germany turned off its zero carbon nuclear power plants and has stalled its economy, with heavy industry declining. Its electricity emissions intensity remains stubbornly around 400 grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour compared with nuclear-powered France on around 40 grams.