SK: Nuclear power reduces emissions: study

SK: Nuclear power reduces emissions: study

Postby Oscar » Sun Apr 18, 2021 3:55 pm

Nuclear power reduces emissions: study

[ https://doc-0s-7g-apps-viewer.googleuse ... qivnidjf1n ]

Wadena News April 19, 2021

Last week the premiers of New Brunswick, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta released a study by power utilities in three partner provinces and formally welcomed Alberta as a signatory to the small modular reactor (SMR) memorandum of understanding (MOU),
previously signed by New Brunswick, Ontario and Saskatchewan.

There is hot debate whether SMRs should even be considered, and proponents of renewable energy fervently disagree with nuclear. The 65-page feasibility report, “Small Modular Reactor Development and Deployment in Canada,” details the benefits of nuclear from job creation to contributing to the economy.

SMRs are the next generation of nuclear energy innovation. They have the potential to help address challenges and opportunities related to climate change and economic growth. It will help meet Canada’s climate change commitments, unlocking opportunities for job creation and economic development, and sustain and expand Canada’s leadership in research and innovation.

SMRs are nuclear reactors that produce 300 megawatts (MW) of electricity or less. Being smaller than traditional nuclear power plants, SMRs are cheaper to mass-produce and easier to deploy. The modular design of SMRs allows for deployment in large established grids, small grids, remote off -grid communities, and energy sources for resource projects.

Nuclear energy is also an essential part of Canada’s non-emitting mix and critical to achieving Canada’s climate change goals.
This benefit was seen in Ontario. The closure of coal-fi red electricity generation enabled by six nuclear reactors’ restart led to the most significant single reductions in GHGs in North America. As Canada moves to eliminate coal-fi red electricity by 2030 and meet its
2050 emissions targets, nuclear energy is poised to play a valuable role in that transition. In New Brunswick, 80% of in-province electrical energy consumption was supplied from clean energy sources, 44% from renewable sources, and 36% from nuclear generation (fiscal year 2019/20).

The current energy system in Canada and the United States, and globally is heavily dependent on fossil fuels that generally supply over 80% of existing energy needs in developed countries and over 87% globally. The capital cost of constructing renewable energy plants are approximately 30 times higher than construction of a gas plant, which is why renewables constitute only one-third
of one per cent of the global energy supply.

Construction cost for 100% renewable energy are enormous, compounding that cost is the need for an extensive land area needed to accommodate. Environmental groups in Canada, the U.S. and other nations have endorsed the “100% Clean and Renewable Wind, Water and Sunlight (WWS)” vision. The WWS envisioned by the U.S. for solar panels would take up an area of 650,720 square miles. That equates to 20% of the lower 48 states for the 46,480 solar P.V. plants that will produce 17,100 GW (32%) of the total power needed. The U.S. will have to replace over the next couple of decades their 440 MW of electricity generated. To replace that it would take 29.3 billion solar P.V. panels and 4.4 million battery modules. They would in fact fi ll the state of New Jersey. Production of these panels would take 929 years, if one per second were manufactured.

As for wind, a 1000-megawatt wind farm would need 360 square miles of land to produce an equal amount of energy as a 1000-MW nuclear plant. A significant problem for smaller countries that don’t have the landmass to accommodate wind farms. For the UK to meet just 8% of the its energy needs with wind farms, 44,000 off shore wind turbines would be needed using an area of 13,000 square
miles. This would fill the entire 3000 km coastline with a strip 4 km wide.
Oscar
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