oversupply of energy?, page-18

on energy embedded in concrete and steel for renewable technologies (posted above 18/6, msg 417 58 98)

This is from International Journal of Nuclear Governance, Economy and Ecology Volume 1, Number 3 / 2007

Titled: Renewable and nuclear heresies

Jesse H. Ausubel A1 Program for the Human Environment, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA.

Now, this article is clearly and transparently written as pro-nuclear, but the author has a good pedigree and makes excellent points about the expansion of low carbon technologies in major electricity systems. Reading it is (IMO) a major +ve for geothermal generation.

at page 234 of the journal (or 6 of 15 in the pdf)

Berkeley engineer Per Petersen reports that for an average MWe a typical wind-energy system operating with a 6.5 metres-per-second average wind speed requires construction inputs of 460 metric tons of steel and 870 cubic metres of concrete. For comparison, the construction of existing 1970-vintage US nuclear power plants required 40 metric tons of steel and 190 cubic metres of concrete per average megawatt of electricity generating capacity.

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