It’s the 24th of December and the sun is shining. The last time we had any snow was a month ago and it didn’t stick around long. The temperature is about 41 degrees right now and at least it’s not raining for a change. At least we’re on the far side of the winter solstice and the days will be getting longer now.

I’ve been writing over on AutoBlogGreen for a couple of months now, so carbon emissions are on my mind a lot these days. As I was walking out of Target today I noticed a tank truck from NuCO2 filling up the carbon dioxide tank that they use in the snack bar and it triggered a question in my mind. Americans (and many others) drink huge amounts of carbonated soft drinks every day. Every single one of those bubbles from your drinks is comprised of carbon dioxide, considered to be the primary greenhouse gas causing global warming. Here’s my question. How much CO2 is emitted from every one of those soft drinks? It seems to me that all those drinks we open up every day, are emitting a hell of a lot of CO2 into the atmosphere, possibly more than cars. If you know the answer, please chime in!

I think not! One of the problems with nuclear power plants, is that they require some type medium to cool the reactor and keep the nuclear reaction under control. On the majority of reactors they use water flowing around the reactor to manage the temperature. Unfortunately water can only absorb a limited amount of heat energy. The amount of heat that can be absorbed is a function of the temperature difference between the water and the item to be cooled. The higher temperature, the less heat it can absorb at a given flow rate. Now that the heat transfer lesson is complete, here comes the problem. Nuclear plants are typically constructed near bodies of water like rivers and lakes. They draw in cold water, pass it around the reactor and eject the hot water.

Nuclear power has been proposed as a way to produce power without creating green house gases. The problem this week as Europe bakes in a heat wave similar to what we are seeing here, is that the temperature of rivers has risen so much that nuclear plants sitting on their banks can’t be cooled enough to operate. So as the demand for power for air conditioning reaches a peak, many of the power plants are shutting down because they can’t cool down enough to operate safely. So what do you do now? We need to use less energy!!