"But What About the Solar Panels On My Roof?" and "I Really Like Driving My New Tesla!"
The questions posed since publication of our stance against solar/wind/battery
A few days ago The BEC took a hard stance on the production of energy: solar and wind are ersatz energy production systems that should be abandoned and replaced with SMRs, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, which are compact, feasible, scalable, reliable, very safe, and affordable.
Human capabilities with nuclear power reduce the advantages of solar and wind to insignificance and magnify the problems of solar and wind to grounds for stopping these systems entirely and immediately.
But some years ago, you took advantage of a tax rebate program offered by the state of Louisiana and you put solar panels on the roof of your home. This lowered your power bill.
Those panels serve your household. Fine. The BEC would never presume to suggest you shouldn’t do what’s best for your family.
You also enjoy driving your Tesla! I hear they drive like silk and satin, that they practically read your mind and take you where you want to go silently and smoothly.
Same answer from us: If that’s your thing, go for it.
But what if every roof were covered with chemically-coated glass sheets?
What if every garage held a Tesla?
Here’s where the answers are not so obvious but just as significant.
The grid has been built and maintained as a system to produce energy at scale and to send energy out from production center to the edges of its coverage area. To scatter random energy production sources throughout that service area adds layers of complications in operations, in design, in hardware, in repair after storms, in maintenance.
Should a hurricane strike, would the solar panels hold up under the wind? If they do not, what’s the status not only of your house but the others around your house? If the entire grid has been morphed into “Every home a power plant” what happens when every home is damaged?
What global resources are needed to transform every building into an energy production facility?
What wiring and hardware? What special construction services?
Is this feasible for every building, especially commercial buildings? (No.) Can this really work at scale, providing uninterrupted power to millions of people all of the time? (No.) Though it may well-serve a single household, would the goal of lower CO2 be reachable by choosing solar/wind/battery? (No.)
And if every car were a Tesla?
The new mining, the extreme need for fossil fuels to build all those cars, the resource utilization of so many newly-needed materials would irreparably damage the planet, all while doing nothing to lower CO2. The battery production needed for all those EVs would be literally impossible.
We hope this brief look helps to answer the nagging questions many have asked in response to our stance on solar/wind/battery. Please see our many other articles on these topics for a more complete look at our opposition to solar/wind/battery and our full and enthusiastic support of SMRs. Our many articles on energy are linked in the one story you see below.
Thank you!
The Best Electricity is Nuclear-Made!
the bec
