Posts Tagged nuclear
Ontario done with coal
Posted by gordonmcdowell in Canada, Environment on 2014-12-12
Ontario has burned their last ton of coal. Ontario’s carbon footprint is miniscule. This was pointed out to me by an Australian.
I worked with Ben Heard to create the above video, but I’ve never met him. He was about to deliver this talk at Brisbane City Hall (in Australia, as part of “Brisbane Global Café”), but we’d discussed in advance the importance of capturing technical presentations. So he set up his own video camera on a tripod and recorded himself. He wore 2 $20 microphones on his jacket that I’d shipped him from Canada.
Ben’s presentation is excellent. I’m pro-nuclear, and it was still incredibly informative to me. I think it offers just as much insight to Canadians about Canada as it does to Australians about Australia.
For example, Ben was standing in Brisbane City Hall, and showing the audience real-time monitoring of Ontario’s electricity generation. I’d encourage any Canadian to take a look yourself.
If you think this video is useful, please consider providing me with captured footage, or funding the man-hours required to edit.
Kickstarter 2012 THORIUM Documentary
Posted by gordonmcdowell in Calgary, Environment, thorium on 2012-02-19
I’ve just launched a campaign to help fund THORIUM REMIX 2012 (a working title), a documentary to help propagate the science behind Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors, just as THORIUM REMIX 2011 did last year.
If you have never heard of Kickstarter before, they use a (rather clever) mechanism where total pledges must meet the project budget, or else no pledges are collected! This avoids the nasty scenario of partially funded projects… no one wants to contribute money to a doomed project.
I’m asking for $20,000. The 2011 edition was shot on a $1,000 budget. And (despite being a very effective tool), it kinda shows. There are no animation sequences to help illustrate complex points. Audio and video quality are very hit-and-miss. And some of my interview footage consists of Skype and Facetime video chat… I mean every time I try propagate this beyond the confines of YouTube, the issue of “video quality” comes up.
Despite that, THORIUM REMIX 2011 circulates in public libraries. It is airing locally on Calgary SHAW 10. And the YouTube video has received over 175,000 views… that’s pretty good for a 2 hour in-depth science lecture shot on a $1,000 budget.
So if you’re keen on seen thorium used to help lower the cost of energy, reduce the risk of future conflicts over energy resources and reduce air pollution including greenhouse gasses… consider helping fund my 2012 thorium documentary.
And if you have the opportunity, also consider joining me at Thorium Energy Alliance Conference 4 (TEAC4), in Chicago. It is where most footage will be collected. If you’re a videographer, the unconference portion will be crazy-hard to cover… please bring your video camera!
Here’s a DVD of TEAC3, also available on YouTube.
Kirk Sorensen in Calgary to speak about Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors (LFTR)
Posted by gordonmcdowell in Alberta, Calgary, Canada, thorium on 2011-03-09
Kirk Sorensen is coming to Calgary to speak about Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors, on March 31st 2011 at Protospace and April 1st at TEDxYYC!
In a nutshell, I believe of all Canadian provinces, Alberta has the most to gain by investigating this technology: In the future our oil exports will be less attractive as carbon trading markets mature, and currently we burn (waste) natural gas as a source of heat used in oil sands extraction. The faster we can improve oil sands extraction efficiency, the faster we stop haemorrhaging carbon credits.
Bill Dickie (Alberta Minister of Mines and Minerals 1971-1975) has observed the Stelmach government polled 1024 Albertans and found only 25% object to new nuclear projects.
The Stelmach government opened the door Monday to nuclear power in Alberta — rejecting a moratorium and saying it will consider the controversial energy option on a case-by-case basis — but vowed no public dollars will be invested in any project.
The province announced its nuclear power policy the same day Energy Minister Mel Knight rolled out the results of the province’s public consultation on the issue. A telephone survey of 1,024 Albertans, which incorporated input from stakeholder groups, found about one-quarter of people want the government to refuse projects. Two in 10 said the province should encourage proposals and 45 per cent of people polled want nuclear power plants considered on a case-by-case basis.
With those numbers in hand, Knight said Monday that Alberta is open for business on nuclear power. But he stressed the province won’t cough up a penny and hinted the lack of subsidies might dissuade companies from proceeding in Alberta. “We’re not putting a moratorium on nuclear,” Knight told reporters. “We are not proponents of nuclear energy,” he added. “We need power and proponents that want to build (nuclear) in the system in Alberta are welcome to do so.”
Of course without the United State’s (wartime) government spending, there’s no telling how long it would have taken for nuclear power to be adopted as a power source. Then again, without the wartime priority for bomb-making material it could have been LFTR which dominated the nuclear power industry, rather than relatively inefficient light water reactors.
As everyone following LFTR technology knows, China is taking the lead on this. I wonder why the Chinese aren’t not leaving such an initiative to the private sector?
Calgary tally of Kirk Sorensen events
TEDxYYC April 1, which is sold-out, but an after-party is open to everyone, at Velvet Lounge 6:30pm. The TEDxYYC speakers will all be live-streamed on the TEDxYYC website.
MRU (Mount Royal University) will host a talk by Kirk at 3:30pm March 31 in Lincoln Park Room (J-301).
2011-03-12 UPDATE
Japan! Nuclear power plants! This…
…Kirk may just touch on these events, and I’ll be asking him how LFTR would have behaved under similar circumstances.
2011-04-16 UPDATE
He came. He spoke. It was awesome.
His TEDx video is in the hands of TEDxYYC, I’ll certainly be sharing it here once it is available to the public.
Kirk also spoke at Protospace and MRU, both lectures also recorded. So that’s 3 very different talks, plus random banter driving between locations and waiting for a flight at the airport.
Something very good will come of this footage.
2011-10-21 Update:
THORIUM REMIX 2011 is now complete. This is my recommended video resource for learning about the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (a type of Thorium Molten Salt Reactor). It begins with a brief summary comparing LFTR to Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR).