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1041 points mpweiher | 3 comments | | HN request time: 0.804s | source
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jama211 ◴[] No.45225631[source]
I’m totally fine with nuclear honestly, but I feel like I don’t understand something. No one seems to be able to give me a straight answer with proper facts that explain why we couldn’t just make a whole load more renewable energy generators instead. Sure, it might cost more, but in theory any amount of power a nuclear plant would generate could also be achieved with large amounts of renewables no?
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zvrba ◴[] No.45229942[source]
Nuclear has the highest energy density (kWh produced per km2). "Renewables" need much larger areas to produce equivalent power. This means that habitats for many species are negatively affected or destroyed.

This is an ongoing debate in Norway where local people are strongly against wind turbines because they want to preserve the nature as it is.

EDIT: Relevant poster in the picture. I once was approached by Greenpeace activist on the street who was collecting money. While I would gladly donate to WWF, I said sharp "NO" to him and explained that it was because Greenpeace opposes nuclear.

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pqtyw ◴[] No.45232300[source]
> because they want to preserve the nature as it is.

In Norway? Or by nature as it is you mean managed nature "parks" or reindeer herding areas?

Don't Scandinavians generally vehemently support the eradication of native species like wolves (despite much bigger number of them doing just fine in much denser areas like Italy or Poland).

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1. sandos ◴[] No.45232602[source]
"Don't Scandinavians generally vehemently support the eradication of native species like wolves" - Don't know where you got this idea from. Yes, Sweden has started allowing licensed (very regulated) hunting of wolf, but only because the population has increased a lot. There is already tension between livestock farmers and wolfs in places, and I believe allowing wolfes to become much more than what we currently would eventuallt results in _fewer_ wolfs because they would start getting hated.

The greens have long been staunch supportes of wolfs in Sweden, and its the right which is not. Atm we do have a right leaning government so... Im sure it will sway the other way eventually.

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2. pqtyw ◴[] No.45234496[source]
> but only because the population has increased a lot

Swedish wolf population is extremely small relative to its geographical size.

There are less than 400 wolves in Sweden. For example there are 1500 wolves in Poland, possibly twice that in Italy. How many times more farmers livestock those countries have? Let alone people. The Baltic states have more than twice as many wolves as Sweden and Norway put together...

Sweden is 50% larger than Italy and six times less people, yet somehow several times less area available for wildlife?

Talking about farmers..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_use_statistics_by_country

Sweden has only slightly more cultivated land than Lithuania (and Norway several times less than that), let alone Poland or Italy...

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3. pfdietz ◴[] No.45269690[source]
There are 6000 to 7500 gray wolves in the US lower 48 states (and nearly 10000 in Alaska.)

The Eastern Coyote is larger than the western variety and has some wolf DNA. It seems to be evolving to fill the niche the wolf occupied in the eastern US. There may be as many as 4.7 million coyotes in the US. There's a pair in Central Park in New York City; Chicago has ~2000.