Miles Per Gallon Equivalent by Four Different Methods

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by Laurentiu

This might answer your question..

What might?

[Laurentiu]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

...just like "life" is renewable...just gotta have "faith," that's all.

Yes, gotta have faith

Originally Posted by Patrick

What might?

Sorry, Patrick forgot the link Nuclear Power, Renewable ?

[NiHaoMike]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Because, if I have solar panels on my roof, or a wind turbine in my yard, then your numbers are no longer accurate. I'd like to see someone try to refine gasoline from oil at home!

Biodiesel can be manufactured at home. It can even be made using solar heat.

[RobertSmalls]

Ah, here's the study from Dr. Samaras that I was thinking about. http://solar.gwu.edu/index_files/Res..._for_PHEVs.pdf

Here's a Green Car Congress digest of the paper:

Green Car Congress: Study: Meaningful GHG Benefit from PHEVs Requires Low-Carbon Electricity

@Neil: I have addressed each of your points in my OP.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Patrick

Nuclear is renewable?

Yes, if you have a breeder reactor, and reprocess used fuel (so-called "waste") instead of burying it.

In any case, what matters (as far as I'm concerned) is not the strict renewability, but the amount of fossil CO2 emitted. That's basically the same for hydro, nuclear, solar, etc: a bit in construction, but then zero in operation.

[NeilBlanchard]

The nuclear power plant requires a lot of energy during decommissioning, too, don't forget. And storage/security for the spent fuel, and low level radiation materials, too.

I never said that there is no renewable liquid fuels, but I do think it would make a lot of sense to develop much more efficient ICE's.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

The nuclear power plant requires a lot of energy during decommissioning, too, don't forget. And storage/security for the spent fuel, and low level radiation materials, too.

Maybe. But "requires" can be a pretty slippery word, as for instance all those people who think a car "requires" a couple tons of steel and a big V8 :-)

Just to provoke thought, a large part of the carbon-cost of a nuclear plant is the concrete containment structure. Now if you've ever poked around Europe much, you'll run into a number of concrete structures that are still servicable - and being used - 1500-2000 years after they were built. See for instance the concrete dome of the Pantheon in Rome. So after investing all the time & materials needed to build a massive concrete structure, why "decommission" it a few decades later?

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

See for instance the concrete dome of the Pantheon in Rome.

The Pantheon dome is not containing potentially lethal radioactive substances.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Patrick

The Pantheon dome is not containing potentially lethal radioactive substances.

Bet you it does :-)

[Laurentiu]

are you referring to fly ash ?

Cement used in Pantheon

Radioactive Coal Ash