The kabuki corpses of failed Green ideas: dead, but preserved and weilded by puppeteers

Atomic Insights has what appears to be a new Green troll.  He dredged up the tried-and-discarded concept of shrouded wind turbines from a post at NBF.  Such ignorance deserves derision, and I gave him some:

Check this out.
http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/08/japan-has-wind-lens-turbine-design-that.html

Oh, look, a rehash of a concept from the 1970's that went nowhere then for the same reasons it is still going nowhere.  It's a huge fixed structure that will collect hundreds of tons of ice in winter storms and can't be feathered against high winds.  It's still subject to the Betz limit and can't generate wind when there isn't any.

(NB: wind turbines with shrouds and diffusers are a very old idea, older than nuclear power IIUC.)

How would the Johnny come lately nuclear community/industry rebut this?

Perhaps you should ask the people at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution why they thought coal-fired steam engines were so great when they had wind for free; you might learn something.

Why would Japan or Asian nations — or we — continue nuclear plans or startup now?

Why would any serious movement recycle BS concepts that they KNOW cannot work to actually eliminate fossil fuels, unless they are secretly working to protect fossil fuels?

  ¶ 5/31/2016 11:06:00 AM 0 comments

 

Watts Bar Unit 2 has gone critical

Local article:

Licensed reactor operators at Tennessee Valley Authority's Watts Bar Unit 2 project reached a major milestone at 2:16 a.m. EDT, Monday when the unit's reactor achieved its first sustained nuclear fission reaction.

Also known as achieving "initial criticality," TVA says Unit 2 is now generating heat under its own power....

  ¶ 5/25/2016 03:04:00 AM 0 comments

 

Quote without comment

... in our modern world it does not take too much time to learn enough about almost any topic to be able to recognize propaganda and sift interest group messaging from more accurate information. You don’t need fancy degrees or position titles. You don’t even more than very moderate resources. All you need is honest curiosity and the ability to pay attention to the world around you.

— Rod Adams
  ¶ 5/24/2016 05:26:00 AM 0 comments