Antinuclear

UK government is up for massive costs for new nuclear energy

Reality check on renewable energy could unblock climate talks REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 24 November 2013   “………The conclusions reached by IRENA are also interesting because most conventional forecasts, would have you believe that carbon capture and storage and nuclear will play a greater combined role than renewables in the abatement of greenhouse gases.

Gielen said that the abatement potential of  renewables is  twice that estimated by most people – at around 6GT a year – and this was borne out in a different session hosted earlier in the week by the Global Carbon Capture Institute, where the economist Lord Stern said that while energy efficiency could, renewables might only account for 20 per cent, with carbon capture and nuclear making up the rest.

The problem with these two latter technologies is the massive cost. In CCS, it is also a question of whether it will work. Even CCS proponents privately concede – that because of the cost – it will have little application in the electricity sector, although it could be valuable (or even an essential) option in the industrial sector, where there is no other available option.

The huge price struck by the UK government for the proposed construction of the Hinkley nuclear reactor has brought clarity to the massive costs of nuclear energy. Few governments would, or could, stand behind a nuclear plant with loan guarantee, production guarantees and insurance guarantees in the way the UK government has had to do.

Which is why the new developments in renewables is so important. Nuclear proponents spend most of their time muddying the field for renewables, saying they are expensive and unreliable. But  the subsidy agreed for the Hinkley plant alone is nearly as big as the subsidies paid for the entire global renewables industry in 2012, and most national grid operators have concluded that having 100 per cent, or close to it, renewable penetration is not difficult. Getting to 40 per cent in major economies is really no problem at all………… http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/reality-check-on-renewable-energy-could-unblock-climate-talks-65554

November 25, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized