What is "the fastest way to slash greenhouse gas emissions" while providing sufficient energy for the world as it continues to seek higher living standards? The article in the url below thinks it has the answer – one that is controversial within the sustainability community:
"Where will this gargantuan amount of carbon-free energy come from? The popular answer is renewables alone, but this is a fantasy. Wind and solar power are becoming cheaper, but they are not available around the clock, rain or shine, and batteries that could power entire cities for days or weeks show no sign of materializing any time soon. Today, renewables work only with fossil-fuel backup."
In dismissing renewable sources of energy as simply not being able to scale sufficiently quickly, the authors present Germany as their case in point:
"Germany, which went all-in for renewables, has seen little reduction in carbon emissions, and, according to our calculations, at Germany's rate of adding clean energy relative to gross domestic product, it would take the world more than a century to decarbonize, even if the country wasn't also retiring nuclear plants early."
In contrast, the authors suggest relying on a proven energy source that has data to suggest it can make the conversion in a much quicker time:
"… we actually have proven models for rapid decarbonization with economic and energy growth: France and Sweden. They decarbonized their grids decades ago and now emit less than a tenth of the world average of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour. They remain among the world's most pleasant places to live and enjoy much cheaper electricity than Germany to boot."
Specifically:
"They did this with nuclear power. And they did it fast, taking advantage of nuclear power's intense concentration of energy per pound of fuel. France replaced almost all of its fossil-fueled electricity with nuclear power nationwide in just 15 years; Sweden, in about 20 years. In fact, most of the fastest additions of clean electricity historically are countries rolling out nuclear power."
Of course, there remain issues with nuclear power stations (construction time and waste management) but, primarily, these barriers are presented as political, rather than technical. As with many of the problems we face, we have the knowledge to do much better but the willpower is lacking.
Take care
David
David Chandler
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Nuclear Power Can Save the World
Nuclear Power Can Save the World
By Joshua S. Goldstein, Stefan A. Qvist & Steven Pinker
April 7, 2019
The New York Times
Late Edition – Final
SR4
