• tryptaminev 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 🇪🇺@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    So instead of running hot, the river runs dry?

    Any thermal electricity plant uses an insane amount of water. For every kWh of electricity generated, about 1.5-2 kWh need to be cooled away.

    A pure air cooling system is theoretically possible, but it drastically reduces the plants efficency, as the energy you can recoup at the turbine is directly dependant on the temperature difference between the hot and the cold side.

    So in any way thermal plants are never going to be an option that is favourable to build now, over building renewables, except for a small degree of net stability that can be provided by already existing plants.

    • federalreverse-old@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      Just so people get the dimensions: somewhere over half(!) of French potable water is used to cool nuclear plants. The dimensions are similar when it comes to coal plants in Germany (but at least Germany plans to exit coal).

      France gets a significant portion of its river water from glaciers in the Alps, e.g. that’s 20% of the Rhône water. Those glaciers will not survive the next 15 years.

      • pizzaiolo@slrpnk.net
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        1 year ago

        By then I’m guessing many nuclear plants will have been taken offline, since they’re already pretty old