Alternatives To Nuclear Power Are Available Now

In the same decade it would take to bring the first of a new generation of nuclear plants on line, we could build a renewable infrastructure meeting most of our energy needs. Most important, using renewable energy would cost less than building nuclear plants, once we consider the long-range costs of handling nuclear waste, potential catastrophic accidents and pollution.

As Bill McKibben said in The End of Nature, “There are no silver bullets, only silver buckshot.” We can meet Missouri energy needs with a combination of renewable sources in a decentralized system.

Wind Power

This most promising renewable energy source for Missouri in the short term has evolved from glorified water pumps on farms. Costing 3.5-4 cents a kilowatt-hour (kWh), wind compares favorably to coal and nuclear even before considering the massive coal and nuclear subsidies, the costs of pollution in healthcare and environmental degradation and the long-term nightmare of nuclear waste disposal.

New Missouri wind maps show enough wind speeds in the northwest to power industry-sized wind turbines. AmerenUE has already started exploring specific places to build a wind farm.

Wind could benefit farmers suffering from low crop prices. Wind farms require open land, which many energy companies lease from farmers. Some farmers make up to $3,000 a turbine per year, each taking up only a quarter-acre of land.

Investing in wind power could also create Missouri jobs. A growing wind industry will require large amounts of skilled and unskilled labor, and every megawatt of new wind energy indirectly and directly creates about 60 person-years of employment and 15-19 jobs.

With low prices, few external costs, little unrecycable waste, economic benefits to farmers, and great potential for job creation, wind power stands as a great energy choice for Missourians.

Active Solar Panels and Passive Solar

While Missouri has less solar potential than the Southwest, solar power still makes great sense for individual homeowners and businesses. We can power our homes with a few solar panels, batteries and converters, often at less cost than building power lines. Pre-heating water with solar instead of electricity will save energy for any homeowner with a sunny roof or yard. We can also use smaller panels for powering water pumps, electric fences, nighttime security lights and countless other smaller projects.

Passive solar, using the sun’s energy and smart design for heating and cooling living spaces, makes great sense for new construction. Passive solar building techniques include extra insulation, large windows on the south with night insulation, thermal mass—such as concrete or brick—to store daytime heat and proper placement of trees, such as an evergreen windbreak on the north and deciduous shade trees on the south.

Hydrogen from Renewables

We currently create hydrogen fuel using natural gas, but in the future we could electrolyze water using renewable energy. This could allow us to “store” solar and wind power by producing hydrogen at a renewable energy site and transporting it with pipelines, offsetting the intermittent nature of the wind and sun.

Hydrogen, whether burned to generate electricity or used in a fuel cell, produces water as its primary emission. Burning hydrogen in air, while releasing some nitrogen oxides, pollutes far less than burning fossil fuels and does not contribute to global warming.

By investing in transportation pipelines, we can make renewable-sourced hydrogen a major part of the 21st century energy economy. We can create an efficient and decentralized energy system by locating hydrogen production close to where we would burn it for energy.

Biomass

Biomass, living or recently living material usable for fuel, comes in many forms:
Waste-to-energy plants burn 14 percent of the country’s solid waste (from about 40 million people), providing enough electricity to supply 2.4 million households.  We can collect landfill gas with pipelines for burning, reducing the amount of methane (a greenhouse gas) we release into the atmosphere.

Likewise, we can burn animal waste on farms to provide energy, a viable alternative for Missouri farmers. In our homes, we can burn wood in clean-burning technology fireplaces and stoves as an alternative to electrical heating.

Burning biomass results in fewer pollutants than burning fossil fuels, and if done sustainably, plant photosynthesis offsets CO2 emissions from biomass.

Paths to Renewable Energy

To ensure a renewable and clean future, we must change a closed-market system that favors coal and nuclear power. Certain policies would remove the barriers to renewable energy that currently exist.

Net metering allows homeowners generating their own electricity to connect to the electrical grid, eliminating the need for expensive storage batteries. Any electricity produced in excess of usage flows back into the grid spinning the meter backwards, saving the homeowner money. Currently in Missouri, homeowners must purchase additional, unnecessary equipment and pay exorbitant prices for insurance to sell electricity back to the grid, effectively preventing anyone from actually selling power back to the grid.

Renewable Portfolio Standards require utilities or the federal and state governments to get a percentage of their electricity from renewable sources, ensuring demand and rapid penetration of the electrical market by sustainable technologies.

We must start integrating the external costs of coal and nuclear (currently paid by taxpayers) into any assessment of energy costs, at which point renewable sources would clearly become more attractive.

Check out these renewable energy resources for more information:
American Wind Energy Asociation: www.awea.org
American Solar Energy Society: www.ases.org
Heartland Renewable Energy Society: www.heartland-res.org