this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
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Asklemmy
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There are working thorium reactor for 50 years or something. Hardly sci-fy.
Renewables need batteries to work. Which needs lithium.
Sure. Just use molten salt energy storage, hydroelectric dams or whichever of the dozens of technologies makes most sense where you are.
Combine different kinds of renewables so you get power at night and when the wind isn't blowing. Build more then enough and if you got excess energy, maybe make some hydrogen.
Have your devices and industry 'smart' so it draws less power when there's less supply.
You really don't need to do everything with 'normal' batteries like in a smartphone.
The 'working' thorium reactors are for research. They don't generate energy. At least if we're speaking about generating energy for a whole country. The planned thorium reactors of the next many years also don't generate any significant amount of energy. With that argumentation we also (almost) have nuclear fusion power plants.
A thorium power plant that contributes to the power grid and shows up in the numbers is sci-fi. I mean, it's not impossible. It's just lots of very expensive work left to do.
Thorium reactor that contribute to the power grid is as much sci-fy as all the technologies you describe to have a working renewable energy grid.
Meanwhile there are whole countries powered from nuclear energy, and switching to thorium makes no difference for the grid itself.
Finally if ecofanatics didn't shut down or sabotage research on thorium reactors we would be closer from a working tech.