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Renewables are not green. To reach the scale at which they would contribute importantly to meeting global energy demand, renewable sources of energy, such as wind, water and biomass, cause serious environmental harm. Measuring renewables in watts per square metre that each source could produce smashes these environmental idols. Nuclear energy is gr...
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... LWR reactor fuel enriched to 3.5% U 235 results in nearly 2.8 million MJ/kg. (Ausubel, 2007). NPPs are thus required to meet extreme and stringent safety standards to minimize the probability of a severe accident, as severe nuclear accidents result in harsh consequences unlike any other energy source. ...
Molten chloride fast reactors (MCFRs) operate in a fast neutron spectrum with a salt that is highly transparent to neutrons. This provides an excellent neutron economy and offers the potential to operate in a breed-and-burn (B&B) fuel cycle. However, these advantages also lead to a significant neutron leakage and require a large core to operate critically.
This thesis investigates ideas to decrease the size of the reactor. The operational parameters are first explored and compared with previous studies. To minimize the size of the core, various materials are studied at different volumes and configurations. Using a two-fluid system is evaluated, along with using a moderator as a neutron ‘trap’.
These studies confirm the optimal height-diameter ratio (HDR), and the importance of chlorine enrichment is established. The effect of fission products (FPs) and their rate of removal on the neutron balance of a system are studied, and the most realistic removal method is determined.
Reflector material is found to significantly improve the neutron balance of an MCFR, but the most significant enhancement comes from the two-fluid, breeding blanket and core system. Additionally, a moderator shows a detrimental effect on the neutron economy.
... Ausubel (2007) plots global carbon intensity, defined in terms of energy rather than output from 1850 to the early 21 st century. Ausubel's plot depicts very gradual, nearly monotonic, decarbonization.carbon ...
... For example, wind facilities require 5-10 times as much steel and concrete per MW e as a nuclear power. Nuclear desalination, though, has the potential to have a significant effect due to its extended development period, and a management strategy is thus required to offer this problem particular consideration (Ausubel, 2007;Damitz et al., 2006). This program involves site-specific operating controls, seasonal limits on other operations, stringent replenishment protocols, planting vegetation, systems on water management, usage of biodegradable materials, etc. ...
... This is worth remembering that windmills have had a disruptive noise impact relative to alternative forms of electricity. Nevertheless, if the activity of the nuclear desalination plant results in noise that disturbs the environment and the residential areas, appropriate acoustic controls will adequately reduce the noise level (Ausubel, 2007;Plan, 2019;Schwarzenegger, 2005). ...
The present water and energy crisis facing the world at
large with the ever-growing population is one that
demands careful attention by the research community.
The treatment of seawater and brackish water by
integrating renewable energy technologies into desalination
processes holds a promising future for availing
freshwater in areas of water scarcity across the globe.
This chapter captures the different desalination technologies
(such as thermal and membrane technologies) and
different renewable energy technologies (like solar, wind
and geothermal energies) that can be integrated into the
process of water treatment for salt removal. Utilizing
renewable energy technologies in desalination systems
will serve as alternative where grid electricity is not
available, reduce environmental pollution and cost.
... For example, wind facilities require 5-10 times as much steel and concrete per MW e as a nuclear power. Nuclear desalination, though, has the potential to have a significant effect due to its extended development period, and a management strategy is thus required to offer this problem particular consideration (Ausubel, 2007;Damitz et al., 2006). This program involves site-specific operating controls, seasonal limits on other operations, stringent replenishment protocols, planting vegetation, systems on water management, usage of biodegradable materials, etc. ...
... This is worth remembering that windmills have had a disruptive noise impact relative to alternative forms of electricity. Nevertheless, if the activity of the nuclear desalination plant results in noise that disturbs the environment and the residential areas, appropriate acoustic controls will adequately reduce the noise level (Ausubel, 2007;Plan, 2019;Schwarzenegger, 2005). ...
Several investigations have established that due to population expansion and land use, fresh water scarcity has increased tremendously placing immense burden on desalination process as the major alternative remedy to freshwater supply. The increase in problems related to energy across the globe due to exhaustibility of fossil fuels. Hence, there is a need to search for other sources of energy to meet up with the growing demand. Globally, the existing methods of desalination are not cost effective; hence, scientists are searching for alternative ways to reduce the financial burden in the setup of water desalination techniques. One of the suggested areas is in the utilization of microorganisms. One of the suggested methods is in the area of energy conservation, when using water to produce energy via utilization or engaging the use microbial desalination. Therefore, this chapter intends to provide comprehensive information on the application of microorganisms for the water desalination. Several types of microorganisms that could be applied for water desalination were also highlighted. The modes of action through which they exhibited their action were also discussed. The principles involved in the process of desalination were also elucidated.
... For example, wind facilities require 5-10 times as much steel and concrete per MW e as a nuclear power. Nuclear desalination, though, has the potential to have a significant effect due to its extended development period, and a management strategy is thus required to offer this problem particular consideration (Ausubel, 2007;Damitz et al., 2006). This program involves site-specific operating controls, seasonal limits on other operations, stringent replenishment protocols, planting vegetation, systems on water management, usage of biodegradable materials, etc. ...
... This is worth remembering that windmills have had a disruptive noise impact relative to alternative forms of electricity. Nevertheless, if the activity of the nuclear desalination plant results in noise that disturbs the environment and the residential areas, appropriate acoustic controls will adequately reduce the noise level (Ausubel, 2007;Plan, 2019;Schwarzenegger, 2005). ...
The present water and energy crisis facing the world at large with the ever-growing population is one that demands careful attention by the research community. The treatment of seawater and brackish water by integrating renewable energy technologies into desalination processes holds a promising future for availing freshwater in areas of water scarcity across the globe. This chapter captures the different desalination technologies (such as thermal and membrane technologies) and different renewable energy technologies (like solar, wind and geothermal energies) that can be integrated into the process of water treatment for salt removal. Utilizing renewable energy technologies in desalination systems will serve as alternative where grid electricity is not available, reduce environmental pollution and cost.
... Here Gates notes that space on our planet is a finite resource and provides a table of how much power different technologies provide in terms of watts/square meter. He does not go as far as Jesse Ausubel, who has claimed that "Renewables are not green" (Ausubel, 2007) because of their low power densities and ecological impacts, but he does note that there is a range of more than a factor of 10,000 across the amount of space different technologies require (I am not sure I quite buy the numbers, but the point is important). He ends this section with a tip: "if someone tells you some source (wind, solar, nuclear) can supply all the energy the world needs, find out how much space will be required to produce that much energy." ...
... For example, wind facilities require 5-10 times as much steel and concrete per MW e as a nuclear power. Nuclear desalination, though, has the potential to have a significant effect due to its extended development period, and a management strategy is thus required to offer this problem particular consideration (Ausubel, 2007;Damitz et al., 2006). This program involves site-specific operating controls, seasonal limits on other operations, stringent replenishment protocols, planting vegetation, systems on water management, usage of biodegradable materials, etc. ...
... This is worth remembering that windmills have had a disruptive noise impact relative to alternative forms of electricity. Nevertheless, if the activity of the nuclear desalination plant results in noise that disturbs the environment and the residential areas, appropriate acoustic controls will adequately reduce the noise level (Ausubel, 2007;Plan, 2019;Schwarzenegger, 2005). ...
... The scaling up of renewable energy technologies is likely to have adverse environmental impacts, for example, through the extraction and disposal of new critical materials such as lithium (Hanger-Kopp et al., 2019). The scaling up of renewable energy can also lead to damaging landuse changes (Ausubel, 2007). Wind and solar power require lots of land and therefore result in habitat disruption and fragmentation (Gasparatos et al., 2017). ...
This IRGC policy brief focuses on the risks associated with the transition to a low-carbon society and economy. It is based on a multi-stakeholder expert workshop held in September 2020. It incorporates views and insights from academia, industry, non-governmental organizations and policy- making institutions.
... Due to absorption by the atmosphere, reflection from cloud tops, oceans, terrestrial surfaces and rotation of the Earth (day/night cycles), the annual mean of the solar radiation reaching the surface, is 170W/m 2 for the oceans and 180W/m 2 for the continents, of which about 75% is direct light, while the balance is accounted for as scattered by air molecules, water vapour, aerosols and clouds (Ndaceko et al., 2014). Ausubel (2007) averred that solar energy potential varies from 3.5 -7.0 kWhm -2 /day (about 4.2 TWh /day) if 0.1% of Nigeria land mass is used as solar panel farm to generate electricity. Ndanusa et al., (2014) also averred the solar energy potential available ranges between 3.5 kWh -6.8 kWh with mean values of 4.63 kWh in Niger State which is within the earlier range by Ausubel (2007). ...
... Ausubel (2007) averred that solar energy potential varies from 3.5 -7.0 kWhm -2 /day (about 4.2 TWh /day) if 0.1% of Nigeria land mass is used as solar panel farm to generate electricity. Ndanusa et al., (2014) also averred the solar energy potential available ranges between 3.5 kWh -6.8 kWh with mean values of 4.63 kWh in Niger State which is within the earlier range by Ausubel (2007). Nigeria receives an average solar radiation of about 7.0kWh/m 2 (25.2MJ/m 2 per-day). ...
The demand for electrical power to drive the economy of Nigeria as a nation is on the rise geometrically, while its availability is either stagnant or in a decline due to inefficient or decay in the available sources of power energy generation and the interconnectivity to form national grid. This work examines the potentials of solar energy that could be tapped as an alternative source of power energy generation in North central states of Nigeria using experimental approach of measuring daily solar radiations across all the study area at interval of one hour using light meter (LX 101A) from which daily and monthly mean were then evaluated. The results obtained showed that north central states has an average solar radiation value of 9.8MJm-2 (2.7 kWhm-2) and 27 MJm-2 (7.5 kWhm-2) as minimum and maximum, obtain in August and December respectively in 2018 and with 0.1% of land mass of states dedicated as solar panel farms, North Central, Nigeria has the potentials of generating 29,168.29 MW of Electrical energy which is far more than the current power energy demand of the Nation.
... Besides better land use, nuclear power plants require lower specific use of materials, such as concrete and steel, for construction. For example, in comparison with wind power plants, the nuclear option requires five to ten times less steel and concrete per MW of electrical power generation capacity [195,197]. Again, this gives nuclear desalination an advantage over other co-located facilities. ...
Thermal desalination is an energy intensive process that satisfies its requirement from conventional fossil fuel sources. Current research efforts aim at finding alternatives for fossil fuels to power thermal desalination. Nuclear energy offers a feasible option for power cogeneration and production of fresh water due to the significant amount of recovered useful heat. The heat is exploited to produce steam and generate electricity on-site to power thermal and membrane desalination facilities. Large or small/medium nuclear reactors (SMR) can be used. This paper reviews the various aspects of nuclear desalination, the different nuclear reactors that have been coupled with desalination processes, and the hybrid desalination systems coupled with nuclear reactors. It also discusses the safety and public acceptance for the nuclear desalination practices as well as the latest economic studies and assessments for on –site nuclear desalination power plants. Ten main projects around the world are primarily operated as nuclear desalination plants. The major desalination processes coupled with nuclear SMRs are MSF, MED and RO. The cost of water production using nuclear desalination was estimated to range from 0.4 $/m3 to 1.8 $/m3 depending on the type of reactor and the desalination process used.
