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title: "Why I keep touting nuclear.  Although I'm skeptical of climate change…"
date: 2019-07-07
source: facebook
type: Archer T. Ships shared a link.
---

# Why I keep touting nuclear.  Although I'm skeptical of climate change…

*July 7, 2019 · Facebook*

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[https://fee.org/articles/41-inconvenient-truths-on-the-new-energy-economy/?utm_source=zapier](https://fee.org/articles/41-inconvenient-truths-on-the-new-energy-economy/?utm_source=zapier){target="_blank"}
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Why I keep touting nuclear. Although I\'m skeptical of climate change Cassandras, I would like to avoid the pollution from energy production that will occur as the demand for energy increases among the world\'s poor. And nuclear is the only currently available low polluting tech that can fully replace base load capacity.\
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\"To completely replace hydrocarbons over the next 20 years, global renewable energy production would have to increase by at least 90-fold.\[6\] For context: it took a half-century for global oil and gas production to expand by 10-fold.\[7\] It is a fantasy to think, costs aside, that any new form of energy infrastructure could now expand nine times more than that in under half the time.\
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If the initial goal were more modest---say, to replace hydrocarbons only in the U.S. and only those used in electricity generation---the project would require an industrial effort greater than a World War II--level of mobilization.\[8\] A transition to 100% non-hydrocarbon electricity by 2050 would require a U.S. grid construction program 14-fold bigger than the grid build-out rate that has taken place over the past half-century.\[9\] Then, to finish the transformation, this Promethean effort would need to be more than doubled to tackle nonelectric sectors, where 70% of U.S. hydrocarbons are consumed. And all that would affect a mere 16% of world energy use, America's share.\
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This daunting challenge elicits a common response: "If we can put a man on the moon, surely we can \[fill in the blank with any aspirational goal\]." But transforming the energy economy is not like putting a few people on the moon a few times. It is like putting all of humanity on the moon---permanently.\"\
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[https://www.manhattan-institute.org/green-energy-revolution-near-impossible](https://www.manhattan-institute.org/green-energy-revolution-near-impossible){target="_blank"}\
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[https://fee.org/articles/41-inconvenient-truths-on-the-new-energy-economy/?utm_source=zapier](https://fee.org/articles/41-inconvenient-truths-on-the-new-energy-economy/?utm_source=zapier){target="_blank"}
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