scholarly journals Development of nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuels

2019 ◽  
pp. 38-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Michalski

Research into environmental pollution and global warming has induced the energy industry and various levels of government to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, especially coal and oil. One of the options being considered is increasing nuclear power generation, which has the advantage of high production capacity that can be fully utilized, low fuel consumption and low cost relative to the amount of electricity being generated. However, despite technological progress, the share of nuclear energy in the world’s energy mix is decreasing, especially in countries with highly developed economies. The reasons for this are high capital expenditures and their uncontrolled increase, fear of contamination of the natural environment in the event of a failure or terrorist attack as well as difficulties in long-term disposal of radioactive waste. This article analyzes the development of nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuels in the pursuit of sustainable development, in particular with regard to investment outlays, the cost of generating electricity, environmental protection and security.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zi-Rui Chen ◽  
Yuan Yuan ◽  
Xu Xiao

The Resource Tax Law was officially implemented on September 1, 2020, in China. This law presents the “Fee-to-Tax” reform of water resources. This article compares the effects of the “Fee-to-Tax” reform under asymmetric duopoly conditions with perfect information. The mechanisms of the two policies are different when all firms simultaneously respond to water resources: the water resource fee affects output by reducing market size, while the water resource tax reduces output by amplifying the weighted cost difference effects between companies. Water resource taxes work better than fees for eliminating backward production capacity. A comparison of the situation when companies respond sequentially is also carried out. When a low-cost firm is in the leading position, the collection of fees actually reduces the output difference, whereas the tax improves it. When a high-cost firm acts as a leader, the effects depend on the cost difference. When the cost difference between firms is small, the first-move advantage of high-cost firms dominates the cost advantages of low-cost firms. Therefore, a higher tax rate yields a smaller output difference. When cost differences are relatively larger, the cost advantage of low-cost firms dominates the first-move advantage of high-cost firms. As the operational cost for reducing water consumption increases, the reduced water consumption first increases and then decreases.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zi-rui Chen ◽  
Pu-yan Nie

Abstract Background: The Resource Tax Law has been officially implemented on September 1, 2020 in China. This law presents the “Fee-to-Tax” reform of water resources. Methods: This article compares the effects of the “Fee-to-Tax” reform under an asymmetric duopoly with perfect information. Results: First, an analysis when all firms simultaneously respond to the water resource policy is conducted. The mechanisms of the two policies are different: the water resource fee affects output by reducing market size, while the water resource tax reduces output by amplifying the weighted cost difference effects between companies. It is shown that the tax works better than the fee for eliminating backward production capacity. Then, a comparison of the situation when companies respond sequentially is carried out. When a low-cost firm is in the leading position, the collection of fees actually reduces the output difference, whereas the tax improves it. When a high-cost firm acts as a leader, the effects depend on the cost difference. When the cost difference between firms is small, the first-move advantage of high-cost firms dominates the cost advantages of low-cost firms. Therefore, a higher tax rate yields a smaller output difference. Conclusions: When cost differences are relatively larger, the cost advantage of low-cost firms dominates the first-move advantage of high-cost firms. Therefore, the “Fee-to-Tax” reform provides some benefits to maintain the environmental development of some water-mining or related industries.


2022 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Isa S. Qamber ◽  
Mohamed Y. Alhamad

The movements for any type of electric vehicle (EV) can be powered by wheels or driven by rotary motors. EVs derive their power from various sources, including fossil fuels. In the long term, reducing the cost of electrically powered vehicles (EDV) is seen as an essential ingredient to increase consumer acceptance. In addition, it aims to reduce the weight and volume of EDV. Moreover, the focus is on improving the performance, efficiency, and reliability of the EDV. The development of innovative modules is important when the acceleration of production and marketing needs to be improved. Consumers are looking for the production and transmission of electrical energy. This contributes to a greener environment. One of the most important parts of an EV is its battery. A proposed model presented in this chapter considers several parameters: solar radiation (PV panels), EV backup battery, and main charger. The model allows energy storage to be developed efficiently.


2018 ◽  
Vol 90 (10) ◽  
pp. 1631-1646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro J. Vitale ◽  
Gerardo M.E. Perillo ◽  
Sibila A. Genchi ◽  
Andrés H. Arias ◽  
María Cintia Piccolo

AbstractLakes, rivers, estuaries and ocean waters control many important natural functions at the regional-global level. Hence, integrative and frequent long-term water monitoring is required globally. This paper describes the main features and innovations of a low-cost monitoring buoys network (MBN) deployed in a temperate region of Argentina. The MBN was designed to record extended time series at high-frequency, which is of great value for the scientific community, as well as for decision-makers. In addition, two innovative designs belonging to two versions of moored buoys (i.e. shallow waters and coastal marine waters) were presented. It was shown that the cost of either of two versions of the buoy is low, which can be considered as the main advantage.


Author(s):  
K. Moses

SynopsisSince the assessment of coal reserves for the Royal Commission on the coal industry of Great Britain made nearly a century ago, up to assessments made by geologists of the National Coal Board, it has been evident that the coalfields of Scotland contain considerable quantities of coal. Throughout the past two decades the presence of hydrocarbons in the rocks beneath the North Sea, the general abundance of oil in various parts of the world, and the development of nuclear power, has meant that coal is only one of several sources of energy readily available to us. The coalfields of Scotland contain seams of varying quality and energy content and so can be compared with other fuels. Consequently it is the cost of the energy to the consumer that is often the controlling factor in the choice of which fuel to use. The very nature of coal as a bulky and not-too-easily-handled fuel has meant that only the generation of electricity offers the scope for substantial consumption of coal.The paper examines these factors and also the location of the coal reserves in Scotland, particularly in the light of the geological factors that affect the cost of the energy. The National Coal Board's deep mining exploration programme in Great Britain has sought opportunities for new ventures and developments, some of which have been in Scotland. The market for the coal and the competition for that market clearly indicates that the productivity of coal mining operations is paramount in determining the future size of the coal industry in Scotland. About half of the coal can be provided from low-cost opencast operations, with the other half obtained from the mines with the highest productivities—productivities that result in energy costs similar to those obtained from oil and nuclear power.


Author(s):  
Zhiwei Zhou ◽  
Hong Xu ◽  
Yongwei Yang

Two aspects of the development trend of current nuclear fission technology are discussed. The first aspect is to improve economic competitiveness and safety for searching opportunity of enlarging the share of nuclear power. The second aspect is to explore new ways of improving the efficiency of nuclear fuel utilization and of reducing the geological repository volume of radioactive products from nuclear power generation. Sustainable development of Chinese economy in 21st century will mainly rely on sustainable supply of clean energy with indigenous natural resources. The burden of current coal-dominant energy mix and the environmental pollution due to energy consumptions has led nuclear power to be an indispensable choice for further expanding electricity generation capacity and for reducing greenhouse effect gases emission in China. The long-term sustainable development strategy with nuclear fission technology beyond generation-IV for electric power generation, namely the fusion-fission hybrid subcritical reactor technology, is discussed. The impact of the proposed fission-fusion hybrid reactor to future nuclear power generation technology will reply on the success of the ITER-scale (500MW fusion power) Tokamak to burn plasma continuously in the predictable future. The main challenges and prospects of the strategy are also analyzed. The preliminary analysis has shown that the fission in the subcritical blanket driven by fusion neutrons can effectively amplify the energy carried by fusion neutron and maintain breeding of fissile material and tritium. It has been found from the results of a conceptual design that this new type of fusion-fission hybrid reactor may meet the requirement of China’s long-term sustainable development of nuclear energy.


Significance The UN summit will follow Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s refusal to reduce Australia’s fossil fuels reliance during talks with Pacific leaders in Tuvalu this month. Impacts Australian domestic concerns will dictate emission policies, even at the risk of harming Pacific relations. Renewables will dominate the long-term electricity fuel mix, but coal is still needed to maintain output. Australian public opposition will hinder potential investment in nuclear power.


2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (49) ◽  
pp. 15060-15065 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Z. Jacobson ◽  
Mark A. Delucchi ◽  
Mary A. Cameron ◽  
Bethany A. Frew

This study addresses the greatest concern facing the large-scale integration of wind, water, and solar (WWS) into a power grid: the high cost of avoiding load loss caused by WWS variability and uncertainty. It uses a new grid integration model and finds low-cost, no-load-loss, nonunique solutions to this problem on electrification of all US energy sectors (electricity, transportation, heating/cooling, and industry) while accounting for wind and solar time series data from a 3D global weather model that simulates extreme events and competition among wind turbines for available kinetic energy. Solutions are obtained by prioritizing storage for heat (in soil and water); cold (in ice and water); and electricity (in phase-change materials, pumped hydro, hydropower, and hydrogen), and using demand response. No natural gas, biofuels, nuclear power, or stationary batteries are needed. The resulting 2050–2055 US electricity social cost for a full system is much less than for fossil fuels. These results hold for many conditions, suggesting that low-cost, reliable 100% WWS systems should work many places worldwide.


Inorganics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christos Mavrokefalos ◽  
Greta Patzke

The expected shortage of fossil fuels as well as the accompanying climate change are among the major challenges of the 21st century. A global shift to a sustainable energy landscape is, therefore, of utmost importance. Over the past few years, solar technologies have entered the energy market and have paved the way to replace fossil-based energy sources, in the long term. In particular, electrochemical solar-to-hydrogen technologies have attracted a lot of interest—not only in academia, but also in industry. Solar water splitting (artificial photosynthesis) is one of the most active areas in contemporary materials and catalysis research. The development of low-cost, efficient, and stable water oxidation catalysts (WOCs) remains crucial for artificial photosynthesis applications, because WOCs still represent a major economical and efficient bottleneck. In the following, we summarize recent advances in water oxidation catalysts development, with selected examples from 2016 onwards. This condensed survey demonstrates that the ongoing quest for new materials and informed catalyst design is a dynamic and rapidly developing research area.


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