Environmentalists in South Africa are promoting the best solutions: efficiency and renewables.
http://www.cane.org.za/nuclear-energy-related/nuclear-power-does-not-help-to-combat-climate-change/Mar 102010
Nuclear Power Does NOT Help to Combat Climate Change
The question is:
What kind of South Africa do we want to live in by 2030, and what energy technologies and strategies will get us there? We need to think about these issues:
* What is the most effective way to address climate change?
* What energy path is the safest and simplest?
* How much is it going to cost to build and to run?
* What are the costs to the environment and to future generations?
* Who is going to benefit in terms of jobs and skills?
Nuclear power does not help us
to combat climate change at all
<snip>
Most of South Africa’s electricity comes from burning coal. We therefore need to choose the most cost-effective low-carbon strategies and act now.
* The first step costs nothing: users of energy can cut back on wasteful energy use.
* The second step is the best way we can spend money: invest in energy efficiency.<3> This means changing the way we use buildings, lights, all kinds of motors, transport, electronics and – most importantly – the production and distribution of electricity. Factories that use heat can also generate electricity from it: this is called co-generation.
o We can pay back the cost of investing in energy efficiency in less than 3 years<4> and at 20% of the cost of new generation plant.<5> This is much cheaper than building new centralised generation plant. The South African Government’s energy efficiency strategy says we can save over 4000 MW of capacity by 2025, the same as a very large, coal-fired power station. Now they need to introduce financial incentives and tax breaks.
* The third step is to use renewable energy. Renewable energy is energy that comes from natural sources of power, such as the sun and the wind (but NOT uranium or coal!), and they are nearly free of CO2. South Africa could have as much as 15% renewable energy by 2020 at a reasonable cost.<6>
* Using the sun’s rays to heat water directly (solar water heating) is better than using electricity to heat a geyser and is free of CO2 when used properly. If the Government were to subsidise one million solar water heaters with timers from now until 2020, we would save another 3000 MW of power for electricity production<7> – the same as another, large, coal-fired power station.
* Engineers can build wind farms in two years, and the power of the wind is free – forever. Wind turbines also do not consume any water. South Africa could have up to 12% of carbon-free wind-generated electricity by 2020 and 20% by 2030.<8> Once again, this is the same as another large, coal-fired power station.
o Some pro-nuclear lobbyists say that the wind is not always available. Yet, if the wind turbines were built all over the country and fed into the grid, the wind would always blow somewhere, so we have built this fact into our calculation.
* Concentrated Solar thermal Plants (CSP) are like giant magnifying glasses that concentrate the sun’s rays on one spot, which becomes very hot and can then be used to make electricity. Engineers can build these plants in 3-4 years, while CSP could generate 13% of our electricity by 2020, and 27% by 2030.<9> Solar thermal plants are expensive but are coming down in price as fast as the price for nuclear power plants is going up.
South Africa has the best locations for sunshine in the world. By 2030 researchers are sure that solar thermal power will be the most cost-effective source of carbon-free bulk electricity and usable heat. With hot-salt storage, and possibly with gas back-up from the Kudu gas fields, this power supply would be available 24 hours a day.
We do not have time for nuclear
power to make a difference
If we want to make a difference to global warming we need to start now and make the transition before 2020. Although nuclear power does not release much CO2 compared to coal, it is still too expensive, too slow and takes money away from cheaper and quicker options. If we ordered one today, it would not be ready before 2020.<10> Looking at the planet as a whole, we would need 50 years to have enough nuclear power plants to really reduce carbon emissions and by this time it would be far too late to do anything about global warming.
<snip>
All the information in this paper is referenced and can be found on the CANE website at www.cane.org.za.
Further reading:
Nuclear Power: Climate Fix or Folly? Amory Lovins. Dec 2008.
http://www.rmi.org/rmi/Library/E09-01_NuclearPowerClimateFixOrFollyenergy
evolution: A Sustainable South Africa Energy Outlook. Greenpeace. Oct 2008.
http://www.energyblueprint.info/fileadmin/media/documents/national/2009/ER-final-south_africa_lr.pdf
<1> Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Climate Change 2007. Synthesis Report. Table 3.1 Pg 45. http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr.pdf
<2> Twenty six Questions and Answers in regard to the study “Greenhouse gas emission targets for limiting global warming to 2 deg C”. Meinshausen et al. 2009 in 30th April issue of Nature. Q8 Pg 6 and Q12 Pg 8.
http://www.pik-potsdam.de/news/press-releases/files/qanda_meinshausen_etal_2009_ghgtargets
<3> McKinsey Global Energy + Materials. Unlocking Energy Efficiency in the US Economy. July 2009. http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/electricpowernaturalgas/downloads/US_energy_efficiency_exc_summary.pdf
<4> Dept of Minerals and Energy. Energy Efficiency Strategy of the Republic of South Africa. March 2005. Pg 11. http://www.dme.gov.za/pdfs/energy/efficiency/ee_strategy_05.pdf
<5> McKinsey Global Institute. The Case for Investing in Energy Productivity. Feb 2008. Pg 12. http://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/reports/pdfs/Investing_Energy_Productivity/Investing_Energy_Productivity.pdf
<6> Energy Research Centre, UCT. Costing a 2020 Target of 15% Renewable Electricity for South Africa. October 2008.
http://www.erc.uct.ac.za/Research/publications/08-Marquardetal-costing_a_2020_target.pdf
<7> Eskom: Solar water heating FAQ’s. http://www.eskomdsm.co.za/?q=Solar_water_heating_FAQs#crisis
<8> Energy Research Centre, UCT. Costing a 2020 Target of 15% Renewable Electricity for South Africa. October 2008.
<9> Energy Research Centre, UCT. Large-scale roll out of concentrating solar power in South Africa. Edkins, Winkler, Marquard. August 2009. Table 2 Pg 6.
http://www.erc.uct.ac.za/Research/publications/09Edkins-etal-Rollout_of_CSP.pdf
<10> The planning, design and construction of a nuclear power plant takes at least 10 years from inception.
<11> Steve Kidd, Director of Strategy and Research at the World Nuclear Association. Escalating costs of new build: what does it mean? Nuclear Engineering International. Aug 22 2008.
http://www.neimagazine.com/story.asp?storyCode=2050690
<12> Centre for Energy and Environmental Policy Research. Update on the cost of nuclear power. May 2009. Pg17. http://web.mit.edu/ceepr/www/publications/workingpapers/2009-004.pdf
<13> International Institute for Sustainable Development: Global Subsidies Initiative. Gambling on nuclear power: how public money fuels the industry.
http://www.globalsubsidies.org/en/subsidy-watch/commentary/gambling-nuclear-power-how-public-money-fuels-industry
<14> Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Update of the MIT 2003 Future of Nuclear Power Study. 2009. Pg. 11. Quote: “There is no plan for high level wastes…the progress on high level waste disposal has not been positive”
http://web.mit.edu/nuclearpower/pdf/nuclearpower-update2009.pdf
<15> AGAMA Energy. Employment Potential of Renewable Energy in South Africa. Nov 2003. Fig 5 Pg ix.
http://www.eskom.co.za/content/Employment%20Potential%20of%20renewable%20resources%20in%20SA.pdf
<16> Renewable Energy Briefing Paper. Potential of Renewable Energy to contribute to National Electricity Emergency Response and Sustainable Development. Holm, Banks, Schaffler, Worthington, Afrane-Okese. March 2008. Table 6 pg 22.
<17> Dept of Environment and Tourism. Emerging Issues Paper: Mine Water Pollution. March 2008. Pg. 1. http://soer.deat.gov.za/dm_documents/Mine_Water_Pollution_fPA1A.pdf
<18> International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2009. Article: Very low dose fetal exposure to Chernobyl contamination resulted in increases in infant leukemia in Europe and raises questions about current radiation risk models. Christopher Busby.
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/6/12/3105/pdf
<19> Union of Concerned Scientists. Safety of old and new nuclear reactors. David Lochbaum. May 2001.
http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_power/nuclear_power_risk/safety/safety-of-old-and-new-nuclear.html
<20> PBMR. Safety Q & A’s.: “total containment of radioactivity was deemed unnecessary” http://www.pbmr.co.za/index.asp?Content=237
energy evolution: A Sustainable South Africa Energy Outlook. Greenpeace. Oct 2008.
http://www.energyblueprint.info/fileadmin/media/documents/national/2009/ER-final-south_africa_lr.pdf
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