David Hansen wrote:
On Tue, 26 Oct 2010 23:04:23 -0700 (PDT) someone who may be harry
wrote this:-

We've covered the point that htere's plenty
od uranium.

There is indeed plenty of uranium. The question is how much of it is
reasonably accessible. Ideas such as extracting it from seawater are
as close to perpetual motion as makes no difference.


Not really. Japan has done it.

There's more uranium around than there is copper to make the bloody
windmills. Or neodymium to make the magnets.

Eve someone as mathematically challenged as you are should be able to
work out that a windmill running at a load factor of 30%, and a
transmissions line connecting it running at a load factor of 30% coupled
to conventional generation as backup , running at 70%, uses 5 times as
much copper and three times as much aluminium as a conventional
generator running at a load factor of 90%.

So called 'green energy' means 4 - times the plant running at an overall
20% load factor (wind and its backup) to do the same job as one nuke
running at 95% load factor.

HUGE waste of scarce precious metals.

Copper aint cheap either. Because its running out.



Even just restricting oneself to the reasonably accessible stuff the
estimates of reserves are subject to the same sorts of caution as
apply to estimates of oil reserves.


...in the 1920s yes.

No one has bothered to prospect for uranium since about 1975. No money
in it. Its cheap as chips at the moment.

The only good thing about windmills is that they have lots of copper, so
once we get around to scrapping them, in 5 years time or so, there will
be plenty of copper in them to make wires to build nuclear power
stations with,.

Then we can sell of the towers themselves to make affordable houses out
of. 'EON Folly'. My Little windmill tower' etc etc. and Grand Designs
can have a competition about who can make the most ridiculous ghastly
overpriced and senseless architectural ego statement out of them.

And get it listed..