With growing environmental concerns over fossil fuels, and a desire to be grid-independent, there is a growing demand for solar energy. Solar energy has been the go-to renewable energy source for homes because of its affordability and simplicity. You can’t exactly set up a nuclear reactor in your home. You also can’t set up a very effective electric windmill (Unless you live an incredibly windy area). But is solar really sustainable for the long haul?
The other alternative energy source that is being considered for widespread use is nuclear energy. Keep in mind that this article is not meant to discourage the use of any said energy source. Nuclear energy is currently a very clean energy source. It produces emissions to harvest the uranium used for fission but this is still almost 1 tenth the emissions of coal.
Nuclear Power is not truly Renewable
Nuclear power is a very attractive option in terms of reducing emissions. There are a couple of downsides though. Nuclear power is also not technically a renewable resource at its current state. However, if nuclear fusion can be achieved, it would be a nearly infinite resource. Nuclear fusion doesn’t seem to be attainable any time soon though.
When nuclear power was discovered, it was considered to be the solution to all of our energy problems. While nuclear power certainly is incredible at producing low cost energy, how long will that last? Most estimates suggest that at current consumption rates, our uranium supply will be depleted in 200 years. This could definitely hurt our dream of infinite nuclear power. However, nuclear fusion could change that. More on that later.
Nuclear waste can be a problem
First of all, in the discussions of nuclear waste, there are a lot of misconceptions. For the sake of simplicity, we will break Nuclear waste into two categories: low level waste and high level waste. You have to be aware of these distinctions to fully grasp its environmental and health impact.
Currently, high level nuclear waste accounts for less than .1% of the total waste produced by nuclear energy to date. That is not much hazardous waste compared to the massive amounts of energy produced. The lower level waste can be dealt with quite easily and usually has a half-life of less than 50 years. This means that in a few decades most of the radioactive waste can simply decay into less dangerous materials on its own.
However, the dangerous high level waste (HLW) is still not something we should ignore. There is about 22,000 cubic meters of HLW in storage today. This nuclear waste will not decay anytime soon, because it’s half life occurs over thousands of years. The long-term plan is to store the nuclear waste in giant holes. This raises a few potential problems that I’m sure you can imagine. This massive burial could work well though if the proper safety measures are followed.
Nuclear Power is a Great Short Term Solution
Nuclear power can help us reach a truly sustainable energy source while we develop our technology. Unfortunately with the current nuclear technology, it will only last us 200 years at the most. Its important to think long-term so that we don’t create a giant mess for future generations. Even though nuclear waste can be a problem, it isn’t as huge of a concern because most of it is low level waste.
Another concern that people think of is the possibility of a meltdown. While this is always a possibility, most meltdowns have been contained very quickly. Chernobyl serves as a relic to a massive nuclear meltdown, but you can actually tour parts of Chernobyl today.
What about Nuclear Fusion?
Nuclear fusion would be an incredible game-changer. Not just for the renewable energy market, but also for technology as a whole. Nuclear fusion’s power source can come from something as simple as salt water. It also doesn’t produce any waste like that of nuclear fission. The possibility of a meltdown is very low too. Nuclear fusion is a long ways off though. There are many companies and universities researching it, and who knows, maybe we will see it in our lifetimes.
The reason why nuclear fusion capabilities are so far off for our planet is because we simply don’t have the technological capabilities to create fusion. On top of technological limitations, we also lack the raw materials. Ingredient 1, deuterium is very affordable to attain from seawater. However, ingredient 2, Tritium is incredibly rare. The tritium that we do have is being used in warheads and is way too expensive for industrial use.
There is another possible ingredient for this fusion combo: Helium 3. Helium 3 can be found on the surface of the moon. Maybe one day we will mine the moon. Until then, we’ll have to stick to the available power generation methods.
Solar is a truly sustainable long-term solution
Solar energy is clearly the most popular renewable energy source for consumers. Solar’s popularity has shown that it is very attainable for even homeowners. But what are the drawbacks of solar energy?
Solar energy has the least drawbacks of any energy source. It captures its energy from the most readily available resource: the sun. Here are some of the challenges solar faces though.
Is Solar is Hard to Recycle?
This is an interesting counter-point that gets brought up about the longevity of solar. This argument is actually not based in reality though because all solar panels are very recyclable. In fact, they are up to 90% recyclable. If we properly manage our resources we can get the most energy from them and use them for years to come.
Where do you Store Solar Power?
It’s no secret that the sun goes down every night. There are also cloudy days no matter where you are in the world. This means that if solar becomes the primary source of electricity in a country, people would just be out of luck if they wanted power at night time. However, this isn’t the end of the story.
Batteries are a great solution for individual homes. In fact they are even going down in price year after year. But, you can’t exactly hook a power plant up to a giant battery. There are other solutions though.
Power companies have long been experimenting with hydro electric as a storage mechanism for nuclear energy. The concept is simple: pump water to an upper reservoir from a lower reservoir to store the excess power created. This can be very useful for solar power generation. A lot of power can be produced in the middle of the day, but there is still not a lunar panel powerful enough for homes. In order to combat this though, the excess power generated in the day can be pumped up above a dam and stored in a reservoir. The water can then be slowly released through a high power turbine generator that will supply power through the evening or cloudy days.
This doesn’t even touch on the fact that wind energy runs throughout the night. How viable is wind power? That’s another topic.
Solar + Hydro a Match Made in Heaven?
Solar and water work well in the natural world, why wouldn’t they work to supply our energy? With the sun already supplying us with food, it can also supply our energy. We will have to use water to store the excess energy from the sun though.
The efficiency of a solar panel is only 20 percent, but that is expected to go up very soon. Many innovations are making solar into a very valuable resource for our energy consumption. The purpose of this article was not to discourage the use of nuclear energy. Nuclear energy remains a very clean alternative energy source.
Solar Powered Homes can act as a Decentralized Grid
The grid has many failure points. It doesn’t fail often, but when it does, it can shut down entire states. In a world with solar, this shouldn’t happen. Not only can homes lower the strain on the energy companies, they can create and store power for their own use. Sure, not every home will have solar panels on it, but if enough do, it can serve as a great backup source of power.
Not every home has to be “Off-grid”, but many homes can be “hybrid” systems that don’t really need the grid. Hybrid solar homes have the ability to sell solar energy to the power company, but they can also cruise along and create their own power if they have to. You would have to use less power than you’re used to, but with a hybrid solar system you can make it through any outage.
Solar is the Most Sustainable Option
Currently, coal is our number 1 source of fuel. Coal can be purchased for $40 per ton by the power companies, so it’s obviously a very affordable choice for power generation. However, coal releases carbon dioxide and can cause localized pollution. Aside from any harm it could do to the environment, it is also finite. We have to turn to renewable energy, and so far, solar is the best option.
Odds are, our electricity requirements will go up, not down. To supply the world with electricity we have to think about sustainability. Putting solar on roofs is one of the best ways to do that. While there are certainly challenges to implementing solar as a widespread power source, it is the most sustainable of all power sources because of three main reasons.
- It’s affordable
- It’s renewable
- It’s recyclable
If we ever achieve nuclear fusion, solar would no longer be the cheapest possible solution. However, right now solar is still the king of renewable energy. There’s a reason it’s so popular. You don’t see it on everyone’s roofs because it looks pretty.
