Data centers can consume as much as a large town and could account for 31 % of Ireland’s total energy demand by 2027, says national grid operator!

How many wind farms does it take to charge one million electric cars?

Everything must be considered. Greta Thunberg calls for "cathedral thinking" to climate change.

The elephant in the room is small advanced next-generation nuclear reactors that are destined to become the game-changer technology of the future without the high costs of subsiding the fragmenting of the power grid needed to accommodate counties full of unreliable wind and solar farms a three-year-old-child can see was incapable of supplying the reliable supply of baseload electricity. Breaking up the grid to discover by 2027 that decision was a big mistake when worldwide acceptance of small safe nuclear reactors by then, made the decision to fragment our power grid a national disaster, due to altering grid structure making it unsuitable to take advantage of new nuclear power generation made in Ireland. Such an error of judgment could turn out to be the ultimate reckless, short-sighted decision ever made. If the ultimate goal was saving the planet, rather than sticking by the last century's fixed green ideology, then everything would be considered and evaluated by outside expert consultants.

When Bill Gates started learning about nuclear power innovation, “I was skeptical, but also intrigued, the most important factors in developing a new reactor are money and very competent people. Bill Gates brings both to the project."

Bill Gates Fri, Jun 11 2021, said that "TerraPower will use the Wyoming coal plant’s existing infrastructure and its skilled workforce to build and operate the advanced reactor plant, which is called Natrium. TerraPower developed the Natrium technology in collaboration with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy.

“We hope to show that on top of all of its energy benefits, advanced nuclear can play a key role in the development of good jobs for skilled workers across the country,” Gates said. Small advanced reactors, which run on different fuels to traditional reactors, are regarded by some as a critical carbon-free technology that can supplement intermittent power sources like wind and solar as states strive to cut emissions that cause climate change. [See footnote]
“We think Natrium will be a game-changer for the energy industry,” Gates told a media conference to launch the project in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The project features a 345- megawatt sodium-cooled fast reactor with molten salt-based energy storage that could boost the system’s power output to 500MW during peak power demand. TerraPower said last year that the plants would cost about $1bn.

Other companies, like the Rockville, Md.-headquartered X-energy, are also building advanced nuclear.

What is less understood is the bonus of including nuclear power generation can bring to the mix.

"Nuclear power plants can produce hydrogen taking advantage of the constant thermal energy and electricity it reliably provides.

The case for nuclear becomes even more compelling when clean steam is electrolyzed and split into pure hydrogen and oxygen. Which doesn’t create carbon dioxide.

A single 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactor could produce more than 200,000 tonnes of hydrogen each year."

Hydrogen to be used in home heating and factories

"Britain’s leading engineers say that hydrogen can safely be used to replace natural gas in the country’s gas grid. Since 85% of homes in Britain use gas for cooking and heating and 40% of electricity is currently generated by gas, this would be a major leap towards cutting emissions − and it could be done in the next 30 years."

Hydrogen fuel cell electric to power: cars, trucks, and tractors.

“Every single major manufacturer is either looking at or working on hydrogen cars,” says Jon Hunt, a marketing manager for Toyota and head of commercialisation of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/electric-cars/93180/hydrogen-fuel-cell-do-hydrogen-cars-have-a-future

“Lithium-ion battery production [for electric vehicles] is very energy-intensive. As an example, a 100kWh battery will give a potential range of 250 miles and, in order to produce that battery, it will take around 20 tonnes of CO2

“A typical battery lasts for 150,000 miles, so that equates to around 83g/km of CO2.
Then, when you take into account charging over that same distance, the same battery car will deliver 124g/km of CO2 over its lifetime,” he explains.

In comparison, today’s hydrogen cars have life-cycle emissions that are at least as low. A recent study found a hydrogen car such as the Toyota Mirai emits around 120g/km of CO2 over its lifetime. But this can be brought significantly down when hydrogen is produced from renewables. (Nuclear Power plants can produce a lot of clean Hydrogen efficiently)

For truly sustainable mobility, hydrogen is a fuel that cannot be ignored. Hunt says this is particularly applicable in the heavy goods sector, where electric trucks are hampered by battery capacity and having to recharge using the power grid. Yet developing a full hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, with which the gas is produced and then transported to stations, would take billions of pounds and years to develop. There are currently fewer than 20 operational refuelling stations in the UK, compared with around 36,000 (and rising) electric vehicle charging points.

The key to encouraging hydrogen vehicles is making them part of a wider ‘hydrogen economy’ – building refuelling stations for hydrogen cars alone would be inefficient. Instead, ideally, the whole energy sector would incorporate hydrogen into the mix, from refueling cars to storing energy for homes.

And this can start locally. One benefit of hydrogen is that it can be produced on-site rather than being transported like fuel, or supplied through grid-like electricity. “Rather than having a nationwide project, hydrogen can start out in local hydrogen hubs and work its way out,” says Clare Jackson, manager of Swindon-based Hydrogen Hub, an organisation that is promoting the hydrogen economy.

Jon Hunt says that the company’s cars are all based on a modular platform, and swapping them from a hybrid to a hydrogen structure isn’t difficult. “The [hybrid] drivetrain is totally transferable. So the adoption of the fuel cell is simply replacing the petrol drivetrain. Toyota is aiming at building 30,000 hydrogen fuel cell cars by 2020.”

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