Non-nuclear options for constant energy

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/27/non-nuclear-options-for-constant-energy

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Energy secretary Amber Rudd (Letters, 21 April) clearly has the gift of clairvoyance. She says that no liabilities would fall to the UK taxpayer or consumer should Hinkley Point C be cancelled. Who, pray, would foot the bill to complete the project should EDF withdraw after a few years of construction when cost and time overruns became apparent, as they have with other projects in France and Finland?

And assuming the plant ever began generating its costly electricity, who would be responsible for the waste management costs, the size of which can only be estimated since the location, depth, technical details about cladding, inventory, or even if there will ever be a repository, remain stubbornly vague and could yet result in indefinite storage on site? Spent nuclear fuel from Hinkley C or Sizewell C would be on their respective sites for an estimated 160 years. Who will take title to hundreds of tonnes of spent nuclear fuel if, as is likely, within that time period, EDF disappears?

As usual, the public purse would be required to bail out a private venture. Rudd’s claim of “no liabilities” is as irresponsible as a short-term response to legitimate concerns as government’s energy policy will prove to be in the long term. Better to cancel Hinkley, Sizewell and all the other nuclear plans now while some semblance of energy policy credibility remains, than to see it unravel in the most embarrassing way over the coming decades, leaving communities like ours to carry the can for government obsession with a nuclear fix. Pete WilkinsonChairperson, Together Against Sizewell C

• Amber Rudd’s claim that “new nuclear is the only proven low-carbon technology that can provide continuous power, irrespective of whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shining” is misleading. She and her advisers will know that woody biomass also provides secure, low-carbon electricity generation. It is currently being used with her government’s financial support as a clean alternative to coal at Drax power station in Yorkshire, the largest electricity production plant in the UK.

Real Ventures has planning consents to build two biomass plants, each with 50 megawatts of dependable electricity output, providing “switch it on and leave it on” baseload power – unlike wind and solar technologies, which depend, on and so provide, intermittent sources of energy. Our port-located projects at Immingham and Hull will be combined heat and power (CHP) plants, also offering low-cost heat to local industrial customers on Humberside, including glasshouse vegetable growers. All we now need to start building them is some government financial support, already enjoyed by other renewable power projects such as offshore wind, solar and at Drax. Ray TuckerCEO, Real Ventures

• Amanda Rudd implies that nuclear is needed to cover base-load generation because of the intermittency factor in wind and solar generation. She should speak with her German colleagues who are satisfied that they will meet their target of becoming independent of all fossil fuels by 2050, covering base-load with bio-digestion. This source of both gas and electricity – provided it is located close to a ready source of either waste vegetable matter of animal waste – is a win-win, as it puts to beneficial use what would otherwise release methane into the atmosphere and provides farmers with nutrient-rich irrigation ponds. Bio-digestion generation has a further advantage in that its output can be moderated to reflect demand at no cost, whereas nuclear is totally inflexible in this regard.

The Finnish nuclear power station, on the same design as that planned for Hinkley Point, had, according to the Financial Times in December 2014, descended into farce, the construction of unit three being expected to open nine years late and several billions of euros over budget. The one in France is six years late and costs have more than trebled. That we should be asking the Chinese to build Hinkley Point is beyond terrifying given their blatant disregard for human life and safety.Kate MacintoshWinchester

• Amber Rudd misleadingly implies that “continuous power” (ie not able to increase or decrease to fit demand) is advantageous. Moreover, the adjective she should have used for nuclear power is “constant”, which at large gigawatt source capacity presents a considerable challenge for transmission and for grid operators to balance against load.

However, if “continuous” or “immediate” power is needed, there are many options from renewables. Biomass is stored energy that can be used for electricity, heat and fuels continuously or when needed, eg by immediate combustion, as biogas, as landfill gas, via pyrolysis, via fermentation and as oils and esters.

Hydro power may be both continuous and rapidly adjusted. Variable generation from wind, sunshine and tides integrates over distance and time to be, in effect over the UK, continuous, but not constant. Constancy and controlled variation are provided by storage, eg pumped hydro, pumped tidal reservoir, batteries (of which there are many options), and, in effect, by demand-side load switching.

Rudd goes on to praise nuclear power for aiming to supply electricity to 6m homes from a single power station. Such centralisation of multi-gigawatt capacity is not a sensible strategy because of the widespread disruption caused by unexpected generation and transmission outages, and by closures needed for refuelling. Nor sensible if we are concerned about terrorist disruption. The sensible alternative is a distributed generation system which integrates and controls power.

Renewables fit a strategy for robust distributed power using a network (a grid) of connections, in a similar robust manner to the internet. Modern communications and control allow such a strategy, especially when blended with methods of using electricity efficiently.Dr John Twidell (Co-author of university textbook Renewable Energy Resources), Horninghold, Leicestershire

• It is astonishing to read that Amber Rudd believes that nuclear is the only source of day-round power. King Canute, some years ago, knew of the inevitability of the tide. He used it to demonstrate the ignorance of his ministers.Noel LiveseySilverdale, Lancashire

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