Renewable energy promoters cry foul when five American states voted to support Nuclear plants extended operations. Defenders of the Nuclear Energy providers say that once a closure of a nuclear plant is implemented, carbon emissions rise up. Although Nuclear, Solar and wind energies are recommended to bring down daily harmful CO2 emissions, they still leave us with carbon footprints.
Solar and wind energy providers may be losing potential business expansion with the lifeline extended to nuclear power plants. The extinction of nuclear plants will give solar and wind Companies the opportunity to dominate the market. The government thinks otherwise. They just extended financial assistance to reactor owners assistance to keep nuclear plants in gear in Illinois and New York. Ohio, Connecticut, and New Jersey are in line to do the same.
Americans are asking if this is the right path to reduce CO2 emissions but with a steady supply provided. There are studies that focus on the comparison of nuclear energy against the renewable energy of solar and wind. Decisions were made after realizing the effects of the research. Nuclear power plants will still be here to stay.
Scientists say that renewable energy is free of CO2 emissions. Compared to nuclear plants that generate its carbon footprint in Uranium mining and processes, wind and solar plants do not have constant delivery of power. There are factors involved that the wind and solar energy fluctuates and cannot deliver a steady flow of electricity. To achieve sufficient transfer of energy to its consumers, renewable energy facilities have Power Plants adjacent to their sites that compensate the energy deficit required. These power plants run on gas, as reported by the Energy Reality Project.
Carbon footprints are present even in renewable energy facilities. Reactor owners Public Service Enterprise Group and Invenergy stress that carbon emissions will shoot up once nuclear plants are shut down. A Nuclear plant in Connecticut owned by Dominion Resources, Inc, Millstone plant produces 2.1 Gigawatts or 97 percent of its output for the state. Reactors in New Jersey provide 98 percent of its power output, reports Bloomberg.
According to Mark Diesendorf, Associate professor in Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies at UNSW, Australia, clean and safe renewable energy will have the capacity to supply the world. But as of now, it is imperative to have nuclear plants in operation to augment what renewable energy lacks.
