Carbon-neutral energy sources, especially the “Big 3”—solar, wind, and nuclear power—have the potential to relieve our dependence on fossil fuels and lessen our impact on global warming. However, for any of these possibilities to surpass fossil fuels as a real, widespread solution, the price must be right.
Nuclear power has great promise, but it comes with significant roadblocks. To accommodate our world’s estimated energy needs by the year 2050 through nuclear power alone, 10,000 new nuclear power plants would have to be constructed. To put this in perspective, only 436 plants exist worldwide, less than one-fourth of which are in the US. Considering the generally negative feelings in our country toward nuclear power, and the cost associated with constructing the plants, this kind of expansion is unlikely.
When it comes to wind power, the problem lies not in safety or price but in volume. There is a finite amount of appropriate land on which to construct windmills, and only so much wind to turn them. Even if all of this land were used optimally, experts estimate the energy produced could only provide, at most, 10% of our world’s total needs.
