Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit
ceejayoz | on: Ireland shuts last coal plant, becomes 15th coal-free country in Europe (2025)
Because people are petrified of nuclear but fine with coal. The opposite should be true.

I don’t think nuclear is the answer to things. But replacing every ounce of coal used for fuel with nuclear would still be a win.

Imustaskforhelp | parent
Nuclear energy can be used to generate 24x7 energy as the grid-power to supply energy to a country whereas Solar and Wind require batteries.

I think that the last time I checked, when you take into factor the CO2 emissions and everything, Nuclear is the best source of Energy.

> I don’t think nuclear is the answer to things

I think that I am interested in seeing thorium based reactors or development with that too. That being said, Nuclear feels like the answer to me.

Feel free to correct me if you think I am wrong but I don't think that there is any better form of energy source than nuclear when you factor in everything.

ceejayoz | root | parent
Batteries are cheaper and faster to make in large quantities.

No economy on the planet needs 24/7 peak power production. The times humans work correspond nicely with the times the sun is out.

jodrellblank | root | parent | next
Daytime doesn't mean the sun is out; the UK has heavy cloud cover and sunset near 4pm in mid-winter. https://grid.iamkate.com/ shows the UK is currently getting 10% of grid power from Solar at 3:30pm in March.
ceejayoz | root | parent
Sure. That's why there's the "interconnectors" section further down; the UK can take advantage of the fact that it's rarely simultaneously dark and zero wind across entire continents.
Imustaskforhelp | root | parent
> Batteries are cheaper and faster to make in large quantities.

Yes I agree but their extraction at scale is still very C02 Expensive.

> No economy on the planet needs 24/7 peak power production. The times humans work correspond nicely with the times the sun is out.

With Nuclear energy, let's face it. If you have a nuclear plant running, the input is just some uranium which we have plenty of. Thereotically we have no problem with running at peak power production.

You are also forgetting that Sun can be blocked during times of rains and Wind is unpredictable as well.

If you can work with solar panels only that's really really great. Unfortunately that's not how the world works or how I see it function :(

You are forgetting that markets operate after work and the late night culture and so many other things. You need lights at energy and quite a decent bit. You are also forgetting that if we ever get Electric vehicles then we would need energy during late night as well.

A lot of energy in general is still needed during nights and would we be still burning coal for that?

With all of this, I am not sure why you'd not like Nuclear?

ceejayoz | root | parent
> You are also forgetting that Sun can be blocked during times of rains and Wind is unpredictable as well.

We already have wires that cross continents to smooth out supply variations. It's exceedingly rare you get no sun and no wind over entire continents for an extended period.

> You are forgetting that markets operate after work and the late night culture and so many other things.

I'm not forgetting it, they just use less power.

You can see this easily in charts of supply/demand throughout the day: https://www.caiso.com/todays-outlook#section-net-demand-tren...

> A lot of energy in general is still needed during nights and would we be still burning coal for that?

Again, batteries.

loading story #47315906
loading story #47310405