787
puts hair on ya chest (mander.xyz)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
92 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 1 point 2 years ago (5 children)

It's not too cheap to meter even when provided as a public service. Nuclear is more expensive than battery + solar, more expensive than wind, more expensive than coal

"Too cheap to meter" was a lie that ignored costs of safety and decommissioning.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (4 children)

    Yeah I agree, and you still hear that BS about fusion power, that it will be an unlimited source of cheap/free clean energy.

    I guess I could imagine scenarios where power is not metered and is supported via taxes, maybe in a scenario where citizens have a right to energy just like a right to healthcare. It’s not free by any means, but the people who make the most money and thus benefit the most from the infrastructure end up paying into it the most. And the truly poor would get free (to them) electricity.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (3 children)

    I really wonder about fusion. Most of the news of energy production higher than energy input is about non-electricity fusion - the big tokamak fusion systems are not yet producing more power than they take to run, but scientists working on them are expecting good results soon

    Like when I was a kid fusion was 20 years away and would always be 20 years away. Now it looks like it'll be 5 years away for a while

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

    I like to follow fusion news whenever I see it, and I think the situation might be even worse than you’re describing, lol.

    The news about ignition and/or more energy out than in, that refers to the energy actually delivered to the sample versus the full energy released from the sample. So it doesn’t include all the energy needed to charge and fire the lasers that was lost along the way. And like you said, it’s the thermal power they’re measuring, and you lose a huge amount of that power when converting to electricity.

    I think we’re still firmly in the “fusion is 20/30 years away” cycle.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •