We Need a Nuclear New Deal, Not a Green New Deal
I have two main points against solar and wind @ large scale. Please destroy them.<p>First point.
Solar relies on rare earth materials and are mostly being bought from China since they are cheaper. The estimate is that these solar panels last less than other panels. So imagine the land area needed to power the USA and China top polluters in the world and then imagine replacing all of that every n years. Plus we will run out way faster in rare earth material for solar than fission material for nuclear.
For wind turbines maintenance costs increases as the structure ages. Imagine this at large scale.<p>Second point.
Dams are way better than solar and wind. But they are dependent on the region, so is solar and panel. So picture the winter where the sun sets @ around 3pm-5pm and wakes up around 7am. Or cloudy days. And @ night! We're talking storage that can last weeks, months. I don't know if in 30 years grid level storage will reach a level that can satisfy these requirements.<p>so nuclear energy per density kills solar and wind, can produce 24/7 energy on the order of MW to GW and produces minimal waste with current technologies.<p>If the argument is that solar/wind energy will improve, then so will nuclear energy.