Golden opined in early December, 2021 that nowadays, folks are increasingly entrenched in their own beliefs. Confirmation bias is alive and well, and it can be challenging to cross the chasm to talk to people who don’t agree with you — from politics to climate change to vaccines [all of which are now political.]
As 2021 draws to a close, Golden been reflecting on issues where her opinion has changed. Fundamentally, She thinks we should all have space for dynamic opinions, and be willing to talk about where and why new information reshapes our world views....[as long as facts are used as the basis of discussion, not conspiracy stories, misinformation, and lies that have been stimulated by the previous president of the U.S. creating a major virus in the minds of many Americans while at the same time aiding and abetting the development of COVID-19 in the U.S.].
Nuclear Energy
Golden was never an ardent anti-nuclear person. She knows, there are technical challenges with waste [although there is none (more)], and three high-profile meltdowns have tarnished its overall safety reputation [although only high-profile brought on by a fear-pandering international media], which is the basis of environmental organizations’ objections [For why such objections are unfounded, self-serving and wrong, see (here)]. But her highest priority is decarbonization, so she is not one to write off the technology writ large.
My hesitation about nuclear power are those of the mainstream climate movement: It takes too long to build new plants, and they cost way too much money. With wind and solar technology mature and cheap, it seems the fastest and cheapest path to decarbonization is to double down on those instead of investing in expensive, centralized facilities. This position is summed up well on this episode of the How to Save a Planet podcast, which cites that on average, nuclear plants built after 1970 had a cost overrun of 241 percent. They also take years, sometimes decades, to come online. There is a promise of small scale nuclear reactors, but the technology is often talked about as being too far away from deployment to meet our decarbonization goals of the next decade.
[But as shown (here), the large wind and solar projects have serious failings. Yes, it takes time to builds nuclear plants, even the new SMRs, but until the new nuclear technology arrives, wind and solar are replacing coal and some other fossil fuels in the production of electricity, but it's not enough and consumer prices are rising rapidly as a result (see Germany and California struggling with renewable expansion). As nuclear attains full strength in the argument, it will be replacing aging wind and solar plants (especially since their lifetimes were never expected to exceed 20 years before their components will need to be replaced).]
But She has warmed to nuclear this year. Here’s why.
First, it’s a carbon-free source of electricity that can provide baseload power in a way other clean technologies can’t. For years, she has mentally compared the attributes of nuclear against wind and solar. But during a session at VERGE 21 on the topic, charming Isabelle Boemeke, the self-described first nuclear influencer, pointed out that no one is arguing against wind and solar — we’re looking for a replacement for coal plants.
Second, declaring nuclear as too expensive and too slow is a self-fulfilling prophecy. she has incredible faith in engineers’ and scientists’ ability to do hard things when we align mission and resources. Take, for instance, the COVID vaccine. A year and a half ago, smart people doubted our ability to develop a vaccine within a year, pointing out that our previous record for vaccine development is four years. Yet when we all pulled the oars in the same direction, we did the impossible. Responding to climate change will require the same coordinated, herculean effort. For too long, she has been been influenced by outdated and well-meaning [but unfounded and exaggerated] narratives about nuclear, and reluctant to join the fray. With climate chaos upon us, it’s time to get off the sidelines.
Hydroelectric Power
Golden worships rivers. She grew up whitewater rafting and find nothing more nourishing than the feeling of drifting downstream. Ratty from "Wind in the Willows" said it best: "There is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. "Rivers also serve as the world’s circulatory systems. They gather tributaries from across watersheds, carrying nutrients, sediments and wildlife critical to food systems and agriculture, and underpinning a wealth of biodiversity.
So she came to her dislike of dams honestly. (Her parents met as river guides in the 1970s and bonded over protests of dams on the Stanislaus River.) The U.S. went dam-happy in the 20th century, building thousands of dams fragmenting river systems and threatening ecosystems. While hydropower can provide clean energy, less than 3 percent of the country's 90,000 dams have facilities for electricity generation.
This year, clean energy OG Dan Reicher, a senior scholar at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, adviser for VERGE Energy and fellow river rafter, shared a new approach to dams — one that has support from three groups historically at odds: the hydropower industry; environmentalists; and conservationists. Central to the strategy is retrofitting dams to add generating capacity to non-powered dams to increase electricity generation, and removing dams that have no benefit to society. This approach has helped me rethink the future of hydro. No longer does she consider adding hydroelectric capacity synonymous to adding new dams. Instead, we can use existing dams better — while removing ones that aren’t serving us.
After all, hydro has some great attributes. It’s a clean technology that provides baseload capacity with no ramp-up time, making it a powerful balance to intermittent clean energy resources. Additionally, pumped storage hydro has amazing potential to offer long-duration or seasonal energy storage, helping electricity reach deep decarbonization.
[Read on if interested about plant-based food ....]
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