Nuclear Power II - Global Climate Change
- Automobile, fine in small numbers, problem in the aggregate
- Coal is the most polluting, oil the next, and natural gas the next
- Consider Canada and US:
 Canada: we produce more electricity, oil and natural gas than we
consume, and we export more than we import
 Electricity: fossil fuel: 28%, hydro: 57.9%, other: 1.3%,
nuclear: 12.9%
 We heat with natural gas and oil, which emit greenhouse gases
 US electricity: fossil fuel: 71.4%, hydro: 5.6%, other: 2.3%,
nuclear: 20.7%
 US burns more fossil fuel, has more automobiles, imports more
electricity and natural gas than they export, also heats with
natural gas and oil
Political Interest in Climate Change
- Began as early as 1957, but it was not considered a serious issue
- Scientific evidence, computer models increasing concern in 1980’s
- Ozone hole and acid rain public issues, scientists predict future
problems
- Political problem: pollution in one area can spread to others (e.g.
across US/Canada border, from Chernobyl in Ukraine across Russia
to Europe)
- Gaia hypothesis: Earth is a self-regulating organism, and that it will
respond to any change in the climate to obtain a new balance
- Oil interests fear damage to their business, clean energy companies
enthusiastic
- Scientific consensus on rise of global temperature, but source of rise
debated
- Two non-nuclear solutions to reduce emissions:
 Replace coal plants with gas-turbine plants
 Use cogeneration (use of waste heat, multiple sources e.g. oil
and gas)
- Europe, Russia and the US largest emitters of greenhouse gasses
- Poor countries resist climate change legislation, barrier to economic
growth
- US is largest coal producer, and second largest oil and natural gas
producer
- US, Canadian and Japanese energy use, carbon taxes
Future Developments
- Population increases in Asia and India, use of coal
- Two arguments against environmental regulations in Asia and India:
 Offenders like US have not done much, and restrictions would
hinder economic development
- Joint Implementation: industrialized countries introduce technology
to reduce emissions elsewhere
Technological Fixes for Climate Change Problems
- Reductions in emissions can be achieved in several ways:
 Clean up emissions from coal plants and cars
 Reducing the number of cars and coal plants in operation
 Increasing the efficiency of power production systems
 Reducing consumption (conservation)
- Consumption reduction an unpopular social fix, not sufficient
- Cleaning emissions is expensive and limited in efficiency
- Reduction of cars unpopular, alternative designs
(electrical/hydrogen), use fossil fuels in production of fuel
- Options: replacing coal plants and increasing efficiency of existing
systems
Alternatives to Coal Power
- Solar, hydro, wind, biomass and nuclear are all possible alternatives
- Nuclear: catastrophic accidents and waste disposal concerns
- Next-generation nuclear reactor designs: Modular High Temperature
Gas Reactor (MHTGR), low-efficiency
- Reactor is cooled by helium, moderated by graphite, and uses
uranium dioxide fuel pellets in ceramic shells that can stand heat up
to 2000 Deg. Celsius.
- The advantages of the reactor:
 Maximum reactor temperature below maximum temp of ceramic
shells
 Fuel pellets encased in carbon that will last “more than a
million” years
 Small size (110MW) faster and more flexible addition to grid
- There are two main concerns with the reactor:
 Low efficiency
 harmful waste and emissions from uranium mining
Improving Efficiency
- Electricity distribution, overloading, deregulation and privatization
- Monopolies, production, transmission and standardization
- Neglect of transmission systems (new lines and maintenance)
- Efficient switching system removes loads from vulnerable lines
- Superconducting transmission lines