So coal was first used in 1750. Which gives us a timeline of 272 years.
Remember that. And welcome to my Ted Talk.
Okay so, we also know that between coal, oil, and gas coal is also The Worstâą. Itâs the largest contributor to climate change, greenhouse gases, and carbon emissions.
In comparison to other energy forms, nuclear in particular? Itâs shit. Compared to nuclear the only other competitor is solar power in both safe and clean energy. If you ask nuclear wins tho because of the energy output comparison but I digress.
There is currently a severe winter storm thatâs rolled across the USA and knocked out power for millions. People died because of itâs failure to keep them warm. And this happens annually now because we have politicians who wonât winterize or otherwise adjust their regions to the changing climate. So letâs not pretend the Current energy system we have now is entirely safe or without its own risks.
And you may be thinking, sure itâs a little cleaner and saferâŠfor now. But at what cost?
Iâm glad you asked. A ton less. Literally. A ton of coal will release 5,270 pounds of carbon dioxide. Now ask much a ton of nuclear energy releases. Go on, ask.
Now. It does produce waste tho right? Right. And as the previous Tumblr user noted: it produces 3 cubic meters of waste per year. Currently coal produces 120 million tons of toxic waste per year.
To put that in perspective:
All of the waste that the U.S. nuclear industry has created since the 1950s takes up relatively little space, and itâs all safely contained. [âŠ] In fact, the entire amount of waste created in the United States would fill one football field, 10 yards deep. By comparison, a single coal plant generates as much waste by volume in one hour as nuclear power has during its entire history.
And where is all that coal waste getting stored? LANDFILLS BABEYY. And then just buried!!
Coal ash currently take up two billion cubic yards of landfills across the USA. Enough to cover the entire state of Pennsylvania a half inch deep. Things like arsenic leech into the ground. Also this article does a good job of illustrating just how unregulated itâs disposal is as well. Coal statistics canât even be accurate because nobody even knows where all the coal even is at any given moment, so statistics canât account for all of it.
Using these numbers we can calculate that if we used nuclear energy it would take 666,666,666 years to accumulate the same exact amount of waste that took coal only 272.
Do you know what that is? What that could be? What that could mean?
Thats community garden space! Itâs affordable homes and community space! Itâs parks and protected land! Thatâs time to solve our energy issue for an even cleaner option! Itâs time for the earth to heal! Itâs time for scientists to find better ways for society to function! Itâs man made lakes! Itâs solar power sites! Itâs wind farms! Itâs land restoration! Itâs taking care of each other!
So much of what weâve learned about nuclear energy has been a scare tactic thatâs done nothing but destroyed our planet for profit.
Iâm not saying it comes without risk. We all know the risks. But if the world is headed to fucking disaster anyway and this could slow it down, why not take this risk? What if it doesnât end badly?
Right now there are 92 operating power plants across the USA that produce enough energy to power 70 million homes (half the homes in the USA) and 442 are operating globally. Theyâre fine. Theyâre safe. Youâre safe. Youâve been safe this whole time despite their quiet operations in the backgrounds of your lives. And you will likely continue to be safe.
Please, please educate yourself more and consider being less strongly opposed to nuclear.
Coal and oil and gas are bleeding our mother earth dry and like us she can only bleed for so long before we start dying off.
