Every.
Single.
Thing.

Sigh.

Over a decade ago, i was super-excited about #MoltenSalt #SolarThermal #RenewableEnergy . I was thrilled when it seemed South Australia was going to get Straya's first one. The retired engineer in me felt sure that once all the ignoramuses had a chance to see one in action, another layer of scepticism & denial would fall away.

Alack, alas... the SA project failed before even reaching the starting line [finance bullshit; i mean, it's not like we're in an existential race, or anything, ffs!]. Then, braindead Straya began voting-in COALition misgovernments, so ofc no progressive ideas ever had a chance of a look-in, anymore.

Now, i read this, which just fills me with even more despair. That thing that i'd sincerely believed in, excited by its thermodynamic integrity & leverage of well-understood existing #SteamTurbine #SynchronousGeneration technology, & eventual/inevitable public + govt acceptance & support, now seems like just another poisoned chalice. Just one more way humans can fsck-over #Gaia, even when actually trying to do something genuinely good.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/21/solar-farms-energy-power-california-mojave-desert

#WeAreTotallyFscked

#nuclear #moltensalt

Perhaps it is not nukes that are outdated, but the idea of a grid. Perhaps France can lead with regional power.

https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/05/micro_molten_salt_reactor/

"A team from Brigham Young University in Utah has designed one it says can fit safely in the bed of a 40-foot truck.

... has no risk of a meltdown, and can produce enough energy to power 1,000 homes, the university said. Prof Memmott separately told The Register the reactor's output should be around 10MWe."

A new paper I had the pleasure to collaborate on: "An electrochemical mesoscale tool for modeling the corrosion of structural alloys by molten salt", https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1gApu54hEL-Js #corrosion #modeling #PhaseField #MoltenSalt #mesoscale #MOOSE #microstructure

What's the future of #green #nuclear #energy? #MoltenSalt #reactors could lessen many of the hurdles (lower waste, no meltdown danger due to no high pressure water, no need for water coolant hence they're drought-proof etc). More about them: https://www.freethink.com/energy/molten-salt-reactor-52913

What's the other future of #green #nuclear #energy? #FusionEnergy #reactors. They're even safer (meltdown is impossible, even less and shorter lived waste, abundant fuel etc) More about them:
https://survivaltech.substack.com/p/fusion

#engineering