Japan To Replace Fukushima Reactor W. Largest Wind Farm
brianlux
Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,087
It's not all great news- birds will die, the possibility of collisions exist, these things aren't exactly scenic and they are not a long term substitute for learning to live with less, but they sure beat being exposed to more radiation. Glad to hear Japan is getting smarter.
http://www.geekosystem.com/fukushima-re ... wind-farm/
Japan Plans To Replace Fukushima Reactor With World’s Largest Wind Farm
After the 2011 disaster that shut down it’s main reactor, Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant simply isn’t going to make a comeback. Like several other reactors across the island nation, it’s been shuttered and will likely remain so, leaving authorities there with a problem — how do they continue to provide the energy that the plant once produced and that residents in the region depend on? This week, we got their answer: rather than reopening the nuclear plant, Japan is looking off their shores, announcing plans for a massive wind farm ten miles off the coast of the area affected by the Fukushima reactor meltdown.
The planned project would host 143 turbines, making it the largest wind farm in the world. Together, those turbines will generate an estimated 1 gigawatt of power, or almos twice the energy produced by today’s largest wind farm near Suffolk in the United Kingdom.
That’s a lot of energy, but well short of the 4.7 gigawatts of power formerly produced by the nuclear plant, which was one of the most powerful in the world. Just where Fukushima prefecture — which has announced that it intends to be completely energy self-sufficient by 2040 — thinks it can make up that energy shortfall remains to be seen.
One thing seems certain, though — nuclear energy isn’t making its return to Japan anytime in the near future as the country continues to recover from the toll taken by the Fukushima meltdown and works to find its way forward to an energy future that doesn’t rely on either nuclear energy or expensive, environmentally damaging imported fossil fuels.
http://www.geekosystem.com/fukushima-re ... wind-farm/
Japan Plans To Replace Fukushima Reactor With World’s Largest Wind Farm
After the 2011 disaster that shut down it’s main reactor, Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant simply isn’t going to make a comeback. Like several other reactors across the island nation, it’s been shuttered and will likely remain so, leaving authorities there with a problem — how do they continue to provide the energy that the plant once produced and that residents in the region depend on? This week, we got their answer: rather than reopening the nuclear plant, Japan is looking off their shores, announcing plans for a massive wind farm ten miles off the coast of the area affected by the Fukushima reactor meltdown.
The planned project would host 143 turbines, making it the largest wind farm in the world. Together, those turbines will generate an estimated 1 gigawatt of power, or almos twice the energy produced by today’s largest wind farm near Suffolk in the United Kingdom.
That’s a lot of energy, but well short of the 4.7 gigawatts of power formerly produced by the nuclear plant, which was one of the most powerful in the world. Just where Fukushima prefecture — which has announced that it intends to be completely energy self-sufficient by 2040 — thinks it can make up that energy shortfall remains to be seen.
One thing seems certain, though — nuclear energy isn’t making its return to Japan anytime in the near future as the country continues to recover from the toll taken by the Fukushima meltdown and works to find its way forward to an energy future that doesn’t rely on either nuclear energy or expensive, environmentally damaging imported fossil fuels.
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.
Democracy Dies in Darkness- Washington PostPost edited by Unknown User on
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There is a wind farm near me, at least 40 or so mills, almost every time I drive by on the highway all of them are not moving.
Good to see progress!
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Others need to follow nuclear power stations are time bombs
How I wish for you today
What do you guys do with the spent fuel rods? Perhaps you should take then home and put them on your mantle?
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
The spent fuel rods are stored onsite in concrete and steel casks. We (taxpayers) had a plan that we had been funding to the tune of billions of dollars through extra fees on our electric bills to store the waste in Yucca Mountain, but this administration cancelled that. So the billions are just sitting there. Nuclear has had some issues, but it is the still the lowest emissions, virtually no greenhouse gas, and is the most reliable. Plus it is a great job, and well paying. Each station employs around 800 permanent people.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not necessarily, unsung, but I will tell you this: I was exposed to higher than normal radiation levels while spending a few hours in Lebanon, PA near Three Mile Island during that incident in order to evacuate my grandmother. We both had wished that hadn't happened.
On top of that, all of us on the west coast have received increased levels of radiation due to the Fukushima incident. I'm glad the Japanese are getting on board with wind power. I would not sugest getting one's head in the way of one of the blades. That would probably kill you for sure.
Who knows, these radiation incidents might kill me. It wouldn't be my first choice of ways to go. I'll take my chances with wind power.
I truly do appreciate the concern for lost jobs. What is often missed is that converting to more renewable forms of energy (remembering that the most important thing we can do is reduce our energy and resource usage) will create many jobs and would be good for the economy as well as the environment. The longer we wait to do this, the more expensive the conversion- but also, the longer we wait to do this the more irreparable the damage to the environment.
I just think it might be a sudden, albeit necessary, hit to the job market waiting for the alternative energy jobs to open up. Maybe you can give me some insight into the jobs that will be available and how many there will be. Will there be more jobs that are skill required as opposed to being more labor intensive, such as mining coal? A good forecast is all I'm asking for.
According to World Watch Institute the conservative estimate is that 2.3 million people are already working in the renewable energy field. They also state that, "Global wind power employment is projected to grow to as much as 2.1 million in 2030 and 2.8 million in 2050."
That's good news!
According to World Watch Institute the conservative estimate is that 2.3 million people are already working in the renewable energy field. They also state that, "Global wind power employment is projected to grow to as much as 2.1 million in 2030 and 2.8 million in 2050."
That's good news![/quote]
Good start!
Given the options, I'm in favor of wind farms but -- birds do die. Lots of them.
Also, my two-bits on the job side. While the wind industry picks up momentum, so is the industry paid to quickly invent the robotics to build these wings. Just a reminder; remember to consider this industries perks in terms of sustainability etc... but not sustainability in jobs because now, any new industry has robotics hot-on-the-heals of any newly created job market. Once completed, both inventor & fabrication jobs fall into the lap of automation. A lap that does not require a paycheck, healthcare, and can't sue if it gets broken.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
wind makes the most sense ... i don't think windmills kill anymore than skyscrapers ... especially when you can turn these off during migratory periods ...
It is just weird to me about how people will evaluate risk. I mean a lot of people were freaking out about a possible radiation cloud from Japan coming to north america, but no one freaks out about the radiation exposure you get hit with from flying in plane. Hell people freak out about radiation in general when it would seem to me that things like being a crappy driver and eating fast food would take more years off of your life than a hypothetical exposure to radiation.
i think some people died ... also ... we're talking about nuclear radiation exposure ... you can't determine the health consequences ... it's sort of like depleted uranium ... gov'ts have long said they are safe ...
having said all that - i am generally ok with the safety of nuclear reactors ... i do think tho in the end - it comes down to cost ... it's still the most expensive form of new energy out there ...
I could see a good argument being made for nuclear reactors built on stable ground (though I would still argue against them, of course) but Japan? No way. There is no way a safe nuclear reactor can be built in Japan. Following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami there was significant concern that a very large shelf which comprised much of eastern Japan could give way. This is not one of those myths like, "California is going to fall into the ocean" kind of thing. It really could happen. The instability of the ground that makes up Japan is well documented.
And we're not out of the woods as far as Fukushima goes either:
http://fukushimaupdate.com/
http://www.livescience.com/26480-fukush ... zures.html
that's the point ... we should all be cutting our energy usage ... it's absurd that it has to be by force ... but we cannot continue to treat our resources and energy as that it has no consequences or limits ...
Right! I'd rather see hundreds of ugly windfarms than I would scores of nuclear power plants because they are cleaner and safer. But studies (sorry, I don't have time to find the references right now) have shown that thus far there are no viable substitutes for the massive amount of cheap energy provided by oil- and using oil in the quantities with which we have over the last 100 or so years has proven to have disastrous consequences. The logical solution is to develop clean energy sources and learn to reduce our energy consumption. It makes more sense to do that sooner than later.