I agree with you guys, nuclear energy is the most effective and one of the cleanest sources. I think we should learn to control it, like researching into the salt reactors, instead of being afraid of it and building "green" solutions that sometimes actually do more harm than good. Take solar panels for example - they are the absolutely perfect solution when you put it onto your roof or on a roadway (remember the solar roadways project that was a thing a few months ago? I wonder what happened to it, it looked like a magnificent idea), but putting them on the ground is a bad decision because they take up way too much space that could be used for growing crops. Wind turbines are also good, but are very loud and should not be put near residential areas, which makes them also a bit limited. And while nuclear plants obviously also have to be put farther away from homes as well, the energy they produce is gigantic. I'm all for using the renewable sources, but they should be used appropriately
However, nuclear plants run on very limited resources (like uranium which will run out in an estimated 80 years) not renewable ones. And they do have environmental impacts, as they require a lot of water to cool.
Source: NY times "The Limits of Nuclear Power"
Don't forget that a single wind turbine can kill hundreds of birds every year. The faster it spins, the more electricity it produces, the less time a bird had to dodge a bone shattering blade. Coyotes even like to hang around them for all the free meals.
Guests, you're both right (unless it's the same guest commenting). Uranium is a limited resource, and even though the energy is efficient, it will run out. And I heard that wind turbines kill a lot of birds, yeah. That's very unfortunate. That's why I personally support the solar roadways project, because it places the solar panels at a place where they won't bother anyone or anything.
Sweden apparently runs 100% on renewable sources, which is awesome, but the thing is that not every country has the natural resources/climat they have.
The molten salt reactors run on thorium which is FAR more plentiful than uranium. Yes, the supply is still finite, but it would give us a nice long time to figure out something truly renewable.
They're extremely noisy and greatly reduce surrounding property value. A county in my state unanimously banned a proposed turbine farm because of those reasons.
Nuclear power in non-renewable now, but that's why we need to put resources into unlocking it's secrects, not stick our fingers in our ears and insist on expensive, loud, ugly and extremely inefficient monstrosities (compared to nuclear power).
The bigger problem is that with wind energy, we can't "store" it like we can with nuclear power and whatnot. It has to be used right away, which is kind of a problem, if you ask me.
Source: NY times "The Limits of Nuclear Power"
Sweden apparently runs 100% on renewable sources, which is awesome, but the thing is that not every country has the natural resources/climat they have.