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Fusion energy might be the future, almost all fusion reactors that are being built are just “proof-of-concept” reactors. When these reactor have proven that a sustained fusion is possible, a real commercial reactor is going to be built.
It sounds a bit science fiction but the reality is getting closer as we speak. Have a look at this Dutch article.
The wonderful thing is that the (slightly optimistic) planning calls for that commercial reactor to be operational in 2050. This is going to happen during your lifetime, you won’t even be retired by then! It is quite exiting to know that during a general election, you might be able to vote for a party that wants to build one of these reactors in the Netherlands.
When nuclear fusion has become a viable option, I can’t imagine anybody being against it, apart from the people living close by because it might be a big ugly building. Otherwise, it’s a near inexhaustible source of clean energy. Until that time though, we’re stuck with the energy quandary.
For us in the Netherlands, the next few options are available :
· Fossil fuel
· Nuclear
· Solar panels
· Windmills.
Biofuels aren't really an option. The government is cutting the subsidies for this type of combustion becasue like any other form of combustion, CO2 is is released.
About 15 years ago, the choice couldn’t be clearer, everybody was cheering for solar- and wind power. Nuclear energy came with the disadvantage of nuclear waste and fossil fuels were only marginally supported because the technology in solar panels and wind turbines wasn’t good enough to provide for the entire country. There was the occasional complaint from a conservation society that windmills might endanger migrating birds or homeowners that didn’t want to have to look at a windmill from their backyard. Other than that, the country was undivided in its devotion to green energy.
Today hoewever, the opinions are a lot more diverse; A lot of people are protesting in the east to prevent the construction of windmill parks, going as far as death threats to the construction companies and dumping asbestos on the construction sites. A farmer would like to fill his pasture with solar panels because they don’t produce nitrogen compounds but the owner of a campingsite knows that his guests want to see the rural countryside and not a modernistic field of blue. The gasfiels in Groningsen are getting depleted but the renewable sources can’t
provide for the entire country and everybody does want to keep the heating on during winter. You can see; this is not an easy puzzle to solve the begs just one question:
Where do we want to get our energy?
Inherent advantages and disadvantages
Inherent means that some advantages or disadvantages are undeniably linked to a certain solution. Everybody agrees that storing nuclear waste for the next couple of hundred years is a real pain. Between now and a hundred years ago, we’ve had: One world war, one cold war, quite a few actual wars and a handful of revolutions. Who knows what’s going to happen in the next hundred years? Planning so far ahead is futile.
An inherent disadvantage of solar panels is that their output is considerably lower in winter, just when we need the energy to warm our houses.
Assignment
108. For the four methods of energy production; Write down at least two inherent advantages and two inherent disadvantages. You are allowed to look them up of course.
Stakeholders
Besides the inherent advantages and disadvantages, there are also advantages and disadvantages that are only felt by a certain group. A park full of windmills at sea sounds wonderful to a farmer in Drenthe but the owners of a restaurant on the beach are less happy about it. A trawler that can’t fish in large parts of the sea because of all the cables on the seabed, might also have some objections. These groups are the stakeholders but sometimes, a group might exaggerate its stake. To the farmer in Drenthe, building the park at sea or on a field near Gouda makes no difference at all. He has an opinion but no real interest. The actual stakeholders are the restaurants, the trawlers and the inhabitants of Gouda.
After eliminating the “fake” stakeholders, it becomes important to determine whether these groups have a substantial interest or a less than substantial interest. The inhabitants of Gouda might not like to see all those windmills and perhaps the price of their homes drops a bit because it no longer has a unobstructed view of the pastures. The trawler men and the restaurant owners however have a much more substantial interest, their livelihood is being threatened.
Assignment
109. For each of following methods of creating energy; Find a group that is in favour of this method and a group that opposes it. Find their (main) argument and explain whether this provides them with a substantial interest or not.
a. Windmills on land in Overijsel
b. A nuclear power plant in the harbour of Rotterdam
c. Solar panels in the pastures of Noord-Holland
d. Keeping the coal power plant in the Eemshaven (Groningen) open for longer.
110. Which option would you choose? Why? Do you consider yourself a stakeholder?
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