A good discussion at the ABC15.com on the future of Arizona’s energy policies. Describing the benefits of nuclear energy, Joseph Comfort Professor Joseph Comfort said:
“Fossil fuels provide over 60 percent of the world’s electricity. But they have huge disadvantages, the most obvious one being greenhouse gases (GHG). International agreements and national policies have set goals for overall reductions in GHG rather than incremental increases that correlate with increased energy production.
Nuclear generators emit no GHG. In addition, power companies are finding them to be economically viable. Construction costs are the biggest item, due in part to the safety-conscious regulatory environment in which nuclear operates, but their operation costs are the lowest of any clean energy or baseload power source.
The NRC’s very conservative environment ensures that the US nuclear generators operate at the highest safety level. The record is enviable….
Continued efforts to develop alternative sources of energy must be pursued, but many are expensive and it is unlikely that they will fully meet all of the future global energy demands.
Substantially expanding the roughly 20 percent of our energy that comes from nuclear, which makes up more than 70 percent of our emissions-free energy, remains the best bet to continue meeting our needs
Joseph Comfort, professor of physics at Arizona State University, says substantially expanding the roughly 20 percent of our energy that comes from nuclear, which makes up more than 70 percent of our emissions-free energy, remains the best bet to continue meeting our needs.”
On the other side, Daniel Peter Aiello, president of Arizona Solar Center, Inc. spoke on the benefits of expanding solar energy like its availability, accessibility, scale-ability.
We think there is a place for both new nuclear energy and growth of renewable energy generation, like solar energy in meeting growing energy demands.
Give us your thoughts here or make your voice heard by adding your comments here….
Tweet TAGS: ABC15.com, Arizona, Arizona Solar Center, Arizona State University, ASU, Daniel Peter Aiello, GHG, Joseph Comfort, NRC
Posted in: Environment, Nuclear Energy | 2 Comments»
