On Sustainable Energy
And Nuclear
This essay is one of 7 essays for The Tech Progressive Writing Challenge. Check out build_ to join the conversation.
We are living in a world starving for energy. For the past twenty years scientists, technologists, politicians, and the whole world have promoted and made use of renewable sources of energy. Renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind appear to be more sustainable than coal-driven and help us with the climate change issue. But in the end, do they provide the exaggerated sustainability benefits that they have been promoted for? Is there any other alternative source of energy that can do better?
In my homeland, Greece, there has been a clean energy investment boom during 2002 - 2012 and from 2016 till today. Most of the investments were driven by incentives given by the government and not from a sustainability focus from the side of the investors. With around 4.1 million m2 (2.9 GWth) of solar thermal systems installed, Greece has the second largest total capacity in Europe after Germany. But what happens when all of these photovoltaic panels need to be replaced? Is there a sustainable supply chain of selection, disposal, and disassembling?
Most solar manufacturers claim their panels will last for about 25 years. That means the solar e-waste glut is coming. When solar panels do reach the end of their life today, they face a few possible fates. Under E.U. law, producers are required to ensure their solar panels are recycled properly. Even when recycling happens, there’s a lot of room for improvement. A solar panel is essentially an electronic sandwich. The filling is a thin layer of crystalline silicon cells, which are insulated and protected from the elements on both sides by sheets of polymers and glass. It’s all held together in an aluminum frame. On the back of the panel, a junction box contains copper wiring that channels electricity away as it’s being generated. In a country with a really small number of specialized waste facilities, I believe this will be a big issue in the future. If we want to talk about sustainable sources of energy we need to act quickly and close this circle by investing in specialized e-waste facilities. At the moment the cost of running one facility far exceeds the revenue, probably on the order of a 10-to-1 ratio.
But what about nuclear energy? The technology is relatively basic: Atoms are split and the energy that’s released heats water to produce steam that moves electricity-generating turbines. Of course, when things go wrong with that 20th-century technology – whether due to nature or human error – they can go horribly wrong. Nuclear power is also notorious for cost overruns and is relatively more expensive compared to renewables like solar. Although Greece has established the Greek Atomic Energy Commission, a decision has been made not to implement a nuclear power program to generate electricity. Recently Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said Greece would never switch to nuclear power because of frequent earthquakes in the region. Is this the whole truth? For example, the Thrace region hasn't had an earthquake for more than 100 years. Bulgaria builds nuclear plants nearby.
For sure I’m not a nuclear engineer or scientist but I've been watching the sector closely for the past 4 years. A lot of innovation is being implemented and new technologies regarding the security and safety of these systems are being introduced. I don’t know, maybe we Greeks should think about nuclear energy opportunities more seriously. :)