The use of the EROEI is a good addition to the data I considered here before. I want to state some caveats against a naive interpretation, that one should only use the source with highest EROEI.brimstoneSalad wrote: ↑Tue Aug 21, 2018 11:59 am Cost of nuclear power does not reflect poor EROEI, but issues like safety measures and supervision along with insurance, etc.
It's EROEI that matters in environmental terms. If we have to make them state run or subsidize them to compete with more polluting power sources or those with lower energy returns, that's what we should do.
There's a table here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_re ... _influence
Nuclear is over 100, and beats everything else. New reactor designs will likely be even better.
First, the EROEI depends upon the quantity of usage. The EROEI of nuclear power will be lower, if it were providing all energy and would need some backup-system as well as not following demand. This could partly be backed up by a big grid. For example France which uses mainly nuclear power supplies big parts of Europe with cheap energy in the night. Same goes for renewables which needs backup if used in a bigger share. (In Germany renewable make up roughly a third with no backup but grid integration, sadly combined with phase out of nuclear, but still lowering emissions from the energy sector). Theoretically, storage is necassary, when renewables supply more than 80% (for the USA, depending on the grid) [https://kencaldeira.wordpress.com/2018/ ... ed-states/]. The tragic issue might be, that nuclear power is not flexible like gas power station. Then renewable plus nuclear would be the perfect match.
The second addition is concerned with new reactors getting better. This projection of future technological development is valid for renewable energy in the same manner.
Third, the use of EROEI should not be used as saying we should only use the energy source with the highest EROI. Especially, if we take the political reality into account. It might not be wise to export nuclear energy to all countries around the world for exclusive power generation (nuclear weapons, increase in Uranium demand).
To my knowledge research (for the USA) suggest to employ both nuclear and renewables to reduce emissions. This is in line with the research, for example http://www.vibrantcleanenergy.com/wp-co ... y_syst.pdf