ROLE OF NUCLEAR PRODUCED HYDROGEN FOR GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

摘要

Sustainability on economical growth, energy supply and environment are major issues for the 21st century. Within this context, one of the promising concepts is the possibility of nuclear-produced hydrogen. In this study, the effect of nuclear-produced hydrogen on the environment is discussed, based on the output of the computer code "Grape", which simulates the effects of the energy, environment and economy in 21st century. Five cases are assumed in this study. The first case is "Business as usual by Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)", the second "CO_2 limited to 550 ppm by ICE", the third "CO_2 limited to 550 ppm by Hybrid Car", the fourth "CO_2 limited to 550 ppm by Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV) with Hydrogen produced by conventional Steam Methane Reforming (SMR)" and the fifth "CO_2 limited to 550 ppm by FCV with Nuclear Produced-Hydrogen". The energy used for transportation is at present about 25% of the total energy consumption in the world and is expected to be the same in the future, if there is no improvement of energy efficiency for transportation. On this point, the hybrid car shows the much better efficiency, about 2 times better than traditional internal combustion engines. Fuel Cell powered Vehicles are expected to be a key to resolving the combined issue of the environment and energy in this century. The nuclear-produced hydrogen is a better solution than conventional hydrogen production method using steam methane reforming.