Lewis, M. (2022, July 7). Wind and solar produce more electricity than nuclear for the first time in the US. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from
While short, the author writes that “electrical generation by clean energy – which included biomass, geothermal, and hydropower and was driven by strong solar and wind growth – accounted for almost 30% of total US electrical generation…” (Lewis 2022) and that renewables surpassed energy production of nuclear reactors by 37.8%, with wind and solar combined producing 17.86% more energy than nuclear. Combined, solar and wind grew by 25.4% in energy production, whereas nuclear energy production dropped by 1.8%.
For me, this article showed that nuclear power may not be the most economical and fast renewable option if it is being outpaced by renewables. With solar and wind energy beating nuclear production in terms of nuclear energy, it shows the public and others like myself that we should not be pursuing nuclear as the primary source of clean energy. I also think that with nuclear power, though advancing, it is clearly being beaten by the cleaner, safer, easier to maintain and that is also renewable and are also advancing their energy production. In terms of the environment, it is making less sense to expand or to go with nuclear power as a clean energy source alternative, simply because renewables are advancing faster and producing more than nonrenewable like nuclear.
I agree that having renewables be the primary source of power in the future is a great idea, but I don’t think it can be right now. Should we eliminate nuclear power as it stands today, even if it is a massive part of our energy source?
Thank you for commenting! I think that until wind, solar, or other “safer” forms of clean energy (even though nuclear currently is quite safe itself, though there is the concern of the waste output), we should keep nuclear power as our main energy output.
I agree that renewables are the best source of power and the power of the future as they are expanding rapidly. How aggressive should the government be by pushing renewables with grants and can we create an international pact to use less renewable energy because that could greatly reduce the economic incentive to use other energy sources?
I think the government should be pretty aggressive with giving renewable grants because not only would this developed that sector of technology, but it would also help give us a chance to reduce carbon emissions in a significant way. For your second question, I’ not sure I understand. How would using less renewable energy reduce economic incentive to use other energy sources? Thank you for responding!