Sustaining the Future: The Role of Nuclear Power in Meeting Future World Energy Needs

摘要

A description is given of recently informed analyses showing the potential that nuclear powerrnhas in meeting global energy demands. For both the electricity and transportation sectors, werncan quantify the beneficial effects on the environment, and we show how nuclear powerrndeserves credit for its role in assisting future world energy, environmental and economicrnsustainability.rnThe continuing expansion of the world's and Asia's energy needs, coupled with the need tornreduce greenhouse gas (GHG) and other emissions, will require new approaches for largescalernenergy production and use. This is particularly important for China and Asia withrnrespect to meeting both the energy demand and sustainability challenges. We show andrnexplore the role of nuclear power for large-scale energy applications, including electricityrnproduction and hydrogen for transportation. Advanced nuclear technologies, such as thosernlike CANDU's next generation ACR, can meet future global energy market needs, avoidrnemissions, and mitigate the potential for global climate change.rnWe use the latest IPCC Scenarios out to the year 2100 as a base case, but correct them tornexamine the sensitivity to large scale nuclear and hydrogen fuel penetration. We show arnsignificant impact of nuclear energy on energy market penetration, and in reducing GHGs andrnother emissions in the coming century, particularly in the industrial developing world and inrnAsia. This is achieved without needing emissions credits, as are used or needed as economicrnsupport for other sources, or for subsidies via emissions trading schemes.rnNuclear power offers the relatively emissions-free means, both to provide electricity forrntraditional applications and, by electrolytic production of hydrogen, to extend its use deep intornthe transportation sector. For the published IPCC Marker Scenarios for Asia we show thernreduction in GHG emissions when electrolysis using electricity from nuclear power assists thernintroduction of hydrogen as a fuel. Thus, nuclear energy assists in providing bothrnenvironmentally and socially sustainable global economic and energy growth.