CLAIM: A verified Twitter user, FloridaYankee on Jan. 25 made a claim on the microblogging site that renewable energy is a giant scam.
FloridaYankee seeks a complete abandonment of renewables for nuclear energy.
He posits “renewable energy is a giant scam! History teaches us that tech (technology) changes faster than we can fathom. For example, we should completely abandon renewables and turn 100% to nuclear. What about waste? Plan on storing it for 200+ years and let the folks in 2223 properly dispose of it,” the tweep said in the claim.
As of Jan 31, the tweet had been viewed, liked, and retweeted, with many comments from several other users.
Renewable energy is a giant scam! History teaches us that tech changes faster than we can fathom. For example, we should completely abandon renewables and turn 100% to nuclear. What about waste? Plan on storing it for 200+ years and let the folks in 2223 properly dispose of it.
— FloridaYankee (@VulcanLawyer) January 25, 2023
VERIFICATION: Renewable energy, otherwise known as clean energy, is energy produced from sources that are naturally replenished, and do not run out, such as sun and wind.
The US Department of Energy explained that renewable energy can be used for electricity generation, space and water heating and cooling, as well as transportation.
Speeding up the transition to clean, renewable energy is one of the best ways to curb the dangerous carbon pollution that causes climate change.
Non-renewable energy, being a source of energy that will eventually run out; sources, which the Washington-based National Geographic Society listed as fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum.
The Prysmian group explained that non-renewable energy is derived from finite resources that are not replaced quickly enough to keep up with the speed of consumption.
But nuclear energy is a form of energy released from the nucleus, the core of atoms, made up of protons and neutrons.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, this source of energy can be produced in two ways: fission – when nuclei of atoms split into several parts – or fusion – when nuclei fuse together.
The nuclear energy harnessed around the world today to produce electricity is through nuclear fission, while the technology to generate electricity from fusion is in the Research and Development (R&D) phase.
Though both sources of energy – renewable and nuclear are rightly considered an asset in the fight against climate change, as they only emit low levels of greenhouse gases, experts argue that renewable sources of energy are the best pathway towards a low-carbon electricity system and assert that they are cleaner, safer and more economically sustainable than nuclear.
Technologically as well, Canadian-based Orano also said nuclear systems have been prone to greater construction cost overruns, delays, and longer lead times than similarly sized renewable energy projects.
For instance, per dollar invested, the modularity of renewables projects offers quicker emissions reductions than large-scale, delay-prone, nuclear projects.
This implies, thus, that nuclear energy is too expensive to replace fossil fuels than renewables are.
The Gencost report found that a small reactor typically costs as much as $16,000 per kilowatt-hour, 50 to 100 percent more than large-scale nuclear power plants. By contrast, wind and solar come in under $2000 per kilowatt-hour, it said.
CONCLUSION: A claim that renewables are a giant scam is FALSE. In any discussion about climate change, studies reveal renewable energy usually tops the list of changes the world can implement to stave off the worst effects of rising temperatures.
This fact-check was produced by BONews Service with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck, International Fact-Checking Network, and African Fact-Checking Alliance network.