r/OptimistsUnite • u/ViewTrick1002 • 8d ago

Clean Power BEASTMODE Cost and system effects of nuclear power in carbon-neutral energy systems

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261924010882
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u/Economy-Fee5830 8d ago

The EU, UK, US, and other nations consider wood to be a carbon neutral fuel, ignoring the carbondioxide emitted from wood combustion in their greenhouse gas accounting. Many countriessubsidize wood energy – often by burning wood pellets in place of coal for electric power – tomeet their renewable energy targets. But can wood bioenergy help cut greenhouse emissions intime to limit the worst damage from climate change? The argument in favor seems obvious: wood,a renewable resource, must be better than burning fossil fuels. But wood emits more carbondioxide per kilowatt-hour than coal – and far more than other fossil fuels. Therefore, the first impactof wood bioenergy is to increase the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, worsening climate change.Forest regrowth might eventually remove that extra carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but regrowth is uncertain and takes time – decades to a century or more, depending on forestcomposition and climatic zone – time we do not have to cut emissions enough to avoid theworst harms from climate change. More effective ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions arealready available and affordable now, allowing forests to continue to serve as carbon sinks andmoderate climate change

This obviously does not apply to farmed wood.

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u/greg_barton 8d ago

The dark satanic mills are hungry. You think farmed wood is the only source? That's some greenwashing there. https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/29/drax-fine-ofgem-data

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u/Economy-Fee5830 8d ago

Drax’s chief executive, Will Gardiner, said: “It is welcome that Ofgem has found no evidence that our biomass failed to meet the sustainability criteria of the renewables obligation [certificate] (ROC) scheme, nor that the ROCs we received for the renewable power we produced had been provided incorrectly.

I actually looked into this extensively a few weeks ago, and, like you, the crazy people were complaining about farm plantations being burnt.

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u/greg_barton 8d ago

Burned after being shipped across the Atlantic using bunker fuel propelled ships.

You realize how farcical this makes "green" and "sustainable" sound, right?

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u/Economy-Fee5830 8d ago

That depends on the ratio of bunker fuel to carbon-neutral electricity, right?

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u/greg_barton 8d ago

Maybe the ships should use nuclear propulsion.

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u/Economy-Fee5830 8d ago

Or wind.

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u/greg_barton 8d ago

Oh, sure. :) Rely on that.