Pathetic Science in Science Magazine

Science gets it all wrong:
 
Energy isn't power

Reflection isn't transmission
 
 
 
 

150 isn't 1500
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

God forbid that 
Science should mention 
a serious energy source: nuclear

The July 30th issue of Science is largely devoted to energy --- if not to getting their facts straight.  Alexander Hellemans (page 679) says, "Amersfoort [in Holland] gets much less sunshine than the world average of 1700 [sic] watts per square meter: Nieuwland's homes should be bathed in about 1500 [sic] watts worth of energy [sic] per square meter.  From this Vlek expects they should glean as much as 128 [sic] watts of energy [sic] per square meter, thanks to nifty PV cells that respond best to light reflected [sic] by clouds."

The sunlight ariving at the upper atmosphere of the earth has an intensity of about 1350 watts per square meter facing the sun.  At the surface on a clear day at noon on the equator, the solar intensity is about 950 watts per square meter.  In the US, the average, around the clock, around the year solar intensity is about 200 watts per square meter.  Holland, which lies farther north, might receive an average of 150 (comparing with Hartford's 160 watts per square meter).  What's a factor of ten among friends?

The reader may consult several files at this website:  Solar IntensityWindmills  Windmills in Vermont   Firewood  Excellent Forests  Wood in US History  High-Yield Trees   Ethanol from Corn  More about Ethanol  Hydropower  Scientific Ignorance among Educationalists  Support for nuclear power among real scientists  Present Status of Nuclear Power   The Hydrogen Economy  Ridiculous Solar Predictions from the Past

(It is worth noting that the editors of Science published gung-ho pro-solar papers, but did not publish a single paper that favored nuclear energy or even predicted that it would be a relevant part of the energy mix in the future.  Such is the lot of the numerically challenged.)

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