Full-energy-chain greenhouse-gas emissions: a comparison between nuclear power, hydropower, solar power and wind power

Author(s):  
Joop F. van de Vate
Author(s):  
Nguyen Quang Thai ◽  

Electricity is an essential element for the production and the consumption in any economy. Electricity can be generated by thermoelectricity, hydroelectricity, nuclear power, solar power and wind power, etc.Each method of electricity production can make the level of greenhouse gas emissions of the economy differently. This study adopted Input - Output analysis method to examine the electricity requirments and greenhouse gas emissions in the Vietnamese economy.


Author(s):  
Hewitt Crane ◽  
Edwin Kinderman ◽  
Ripudaman Malhotra

Of the various alternatives to fossil energy, nuclear power is the most advanced and the best positioned to become a major source of energy. It is also essentially free of CO2 emissions, and if reducing greenhouse gas emissions is truly the highest concern, then we will have to develop nuclear power. Yet developing nuclear power would also pose challenges in terms of waste disposal, and proliferation of nuclear weapons including the risk of a terrorist organization acquiring such weapons. To some environmentalists nuclear power presents a serious, dilemma. Support or opposition to nuclear power is strongly affected by value judgments as well as lack of disseminated information on questions: What happens if there is leakage of nuclear waste someday? To what extent would people and the world be affected? Would we be trading international security for energy security—does nuclear power increase our vulnerability to terrorist attacks? The mixture of clear benefits with outstanding questions currently allows some nations to embrace nuclear power, some to accept it grudgingly, and still others choose to ignore it. Given its availability and environmental benefits, nuclear is an option that cannot be ignored if we are to tackle the energy problem in a serious way. To assume that we can store and safeguard the waste for thousands of years may be hubris, but we come out in favor of developing nuclear technology in part because we already have to store the legacy nuclear waste that has been generated over the last 50 years. Another 60 or so years of waste will represent a marginal addition to that enormous task, but it would buy us badly needed time to carefully develop other energy sources that do not entail net greenhouse gas emissions. Also, we find that many of the concerns raised against the development of nuclear power are vastly exaggerated. For example, as we describe in this chapter, safe storage of the waste does not require 10,000 years: if we use reprocessing technologies, the remaining waste could be rendered benign in a couple of centuries.


Energy Policy ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 101 ◽  
pp. 201-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Camilla Thomson ◽  
Gareth P. Harrison ◽  
John P. Chick

Energy Policy ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 2549-2557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasilis M. Fthenakis ◽  
Hyung Chul Kim

Subject The outlook for Japan's energy sector. Significance Japan's efforts to restart nuclear power stations have been slow and susceptible to local opposition. Generous subsidies have sparked a boom in solar power, but generators are also planning new coal plant construction, threatening Japan's record on greenhouse gas emissions. Impacts Energy-saving measures mean electricity demand will probably stabilise or fall. Growing coal use will provide cheap baseload power, but plants are at risk from future climate regulation. A lack of diversity in renewables without nuclear power will entrench dependence on energy commodities.


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