Power plants around the world and energy security - JS

Link; https://database.earth/energy/power-plants Please see link above for a dynamic map of world power plants. See links by the photos for their sources.

Power plants around the world and energy security John Shanahan February 18, 2021

The unimaginably wonderful modern world developed with fossil fuels, nuclear power and their by-products advanced the standards of living for many. These energy sources and their marvelous by-products must help everyone.

The modern world was built mostly on assumptions of peacetime. WWII caused near total infrastructure destruction in Germany and major cities in Japan.

North America and Europe would be wise to protect power stations and the electric distribution grid from destruction by large scale terrorist actions.

Koreans suffered tremendously at the hands of foreign occupiers from the 1930s into the 1950s resulting in a ceasefire, not a peace treaty. This resulted in the division of North and South Korea. One is a prospering free democracy with students from around the world studying nuclear engineering and nuclear medicine in their universities. The other Korea is ruled by a despot who totally controls everything the population does and thinks. They are not free to leave the country. This despot is a significant threat to regional and world peace.

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This article includes contributions by Dr. Myong-Jai Gene Lim, KoreanAmerican nuclear engineer. He is not a co-author on this article but we have agreed to work together and co-author many articles on energy and measures to make a better world.

He was born in 1934 in what is now North Korea. At the time, Korea and Northern China were occupied by a terrible Japanese Army. Dr. Lim and other Korean children were forced to go to Japanese schools in Korea. He learned Japanese, a special skill that he would use throughout his life. Later he learned Chinese. Another skill that he would use throughout his life. In the 1950s during the Korean War, the Chinese Army destroyed Korean towns and farms in their fight against the South Korean and American Military Forces.

When he met the U.S. Marines and Army soldiers, they gave him food, taught him character, leadership and kindness. They hired him as a translator. The Americans recognized his special ability to learn technical subjects. This resulted in scholarships leading to a Dr. of Nuclear Engineering and a high level career in nuclear power with Westinghouse for nuclear power plants in the USA and Japan. He was also a consultant for a Swiss nuclear power plant. This gave him valuable first hand experience for startup testing of nuclear power plants in America, Japan and Switzerland for accident scenarios.

The world has changed from a peacetime basis to large scale terrorism and regional wars. Dr. Lim is using his knowledge of actual nuclear power plant performance beyond design basis testing and accidents to recommend measures to protect the electrical grid and power plants.

This article includes an introduction to Dr. Lim’s recommendations. Other articles by him and him co-authoring with John Shanahan will discuss measures to protect the electrical grid, power plants and the public in a dangerously changing world. It is no longer sufficient to assume that the prosperity of the modern world is solely based on peacetime conditions.

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Plentiful energy and energy by-products are the keystone of a peaceful and prosperous world. Everything depends on fossil fuels and nuclear power.

Leaders in North America and Europe have foolishly insisted since the 1980s on abandoning fossil fuels and nuclear power and supposedly run everything on wind, solar, biomass and hydro. They claim this will enable them to have their hands on a magic control knob for climate change. The serious threats to the modern world are not carbon dioxide from fossil fuels but rather large-scale terrorism to destroy the electrical power system.

Even the most famous court jester would not recommend a change to “renewable” energy.

But leaders in North America and Europe, their mainstream media, academics in universities and teachers in schools have convinced many voters and students to insist on wind and solar power.

The free world must protect fossil fuel and nuclear power plants, the electrical grid, refineries, and gas and oil pipelines from large-scale terrorism or suffer the consequences - become pawns of murderous people like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un.

This article presents a simple picture of the world's energy infrastructure and its problems. Other articles by the same authors go into measures for protecting the heart of the modern world - the energy systems and infrastructure.

See this dynamic map of the world showing power plants.

Click on the dot to find the type, size and name.

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Modern bio complex. Renewable energy from biomass Biomass energy will never be a significant main energy source for the modern world. The above photo shows how it is done in Europe. The photo below shows how it is done in Nepal. https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/modern-bio-comlex-renewableenergy-from-biomass-innovative-biogas-plant-among-greengm1351320954-427120544

Bio-energy operations in Asia. The cattle are kept near the home. See shed in background. Their dung is collected by hand and pasted on the outer walls of the home to dry. Then used indoors for heating and cooking.

REALLY HEALTHY!

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Electric vehicle charging station It takes much longer to charge an electric vehicle than a gas or diesel power car or truck. Some electric vehicle batteries catch fire. It is difficult to extinguish an EV fire. Replacement of EV batteries is as expensive as condominium community periodic assessments. Getting stuck in massive traffic jams in the winter or hurricanes is a very unpleasant experience. https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/an-electric-vehicle-charging-stationset-up-by-the-karnataka-government-at-its-gm1306298899-396916915

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Srisailam hydro-electric dam reservoir, India Dams disrupt river ecology, fill up with silt over time and are catastrophic when they fail. Otherwise, the power, irrigation and recreation benefits are tremendous. https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/srisailam-dam-reservior-indiagm1300140438-392554393

Natural gas power plant - Amata City, Thailand https://www.dreamstime.com/gas-turbine-electric-power-plant-nightsupport-all-factory-amata-city-image109298810

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Solar photo-volatic panels being cleaned.

New Delhi, India - June 14, 2011: A solar panel is cleaned using a wet sponge. How many P-V panels will that bucket of water clean? Maybe this magic water bucket will clean all the P-V panels in India. Staged photos are shockingly disappointing.

False technologies by national leaders and the World Economic Forum waste trillions of dollars and destroy the environment at mine sites and landfills.

Imagine the number of jobs solar energy will support cleaning, removing snow, repairing hail damage, replacing every twenty or so years, and taking to the landfill. This will continue for thousands of years. Solar panels don’t work in the night, evening, early morning, on cloudy days and when the air is polluted with dust storms or smog. Einstein did not recommend solar power. https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/cleaning-solar-panel-gm45858030727967234

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Damaged solar photovoltaic solar panels by hail storm - Nebraska, USA

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Solar power stations destroyed by hurricanes.

Most coal fired power stations and all nuclear power stations are capable of surviving hurricanes. Nuclear power plants are designed to survive the strongest tornado and then some. The probability of the very strongest tornado making a direct strike on a nuclear power plant is extremely small.

Still, they meet this design requirement. Shouldn’t all power plants be protected from the easiest terrorist attacks that would knock out energy delivery to the net for a long time?

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Electricity power substation in Chennai, India.

Transformers are a component of the electrical grid and at electrical generating stations for all major power stations. Large transformers have a very long lead time. The electrical grid and power stations are designed for peace time. Large scale terrorist activities and war time artillery and bombing can easily destroy transformers. The massive bombing of German and Japanese cities destroyed the electrical grid and everything else. The USA experienced the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. A fourth plane was heading for Washington to strike the Capital or the White House. Passengers sacrificed themselves to crash the plane in Pennsylvania.

Are there fewer terrorists in the USA in 2024 than in 2011? Obviously, there are many more. The world is at war and the infrastructure is an easy target to destroy modern civilization. Europe and North America continue to live in denial squandering their wealth on unimaginably wasteful programs. https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/electricity-power-substation10

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Coal power plant in China Europe and North America have developed technologies for much cleaner coal power plants. Coal power plants will remain the technology of choice, not nuclear, solar or wind, for many countries with weaker economies or less stable governments. Nuclear power advocates who claim that the whole world will be using nuclear power in 50 or 100 years are not good at making energy forecasts. How good are they at operating nuclear power plants? https://www.rfa.org/english/commentaries/energy_watch/coal10302020102951.html

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Olkiluoto Unite nuclear power plant - Finland As a first-of-a-kind project, Olkiluoto Unit 3 took more time to build than was originally expected, but the end result has proven worth the wait.

Calling it the “largest single climate action” in Finland’s history is more than just a marketing slogan, as it is now providing reliable baseload electricity to serve about 14% of the country’s demand.

Nuclear power professional organizations and power plant owners in Europe and North America claim that this technology can solve problems of supposed man-made global warming from use of fossil fuels. China, India and Russia do not make these claims about man-made global warming and nuclear power controlling climate change.

One side is talking about gibberish. Carbon dioxide that they call “carbon” is either a pollutant or the molecule of life. It either is a threat to Earth’s climate or it is not. The truth about climate change, fossil fuels and nuclear power can not be held back from the public forever. Which side is correct?

The answers are going to surprise many people. https://www.powermag.com/olkiluoto-unit-3-provides-carbon-freenuclear-power-and-energy-security-for-finland/

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Conclusions After WWII, the world hoped for peace and set the design requirements for the electrical grid and power plants for peace time.

Since then there have been endless regional wars and a tremendous increase in very effective terrorism in Europe, North America and Israel.

A long-term loss of electrical power would collapse the modern world. It is far easier to collapse the electrical distribution system and destroy coal fired plants than to damage nuclear power plants so much as to cause large discharges of radioactivity over a wide area for the long term.

The terrorists know what to do.

What will Australia, Europe and North America do?

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