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Australia needs clean nuclear energy

By Tom Biegler - posted Monday, 16 December 2019


No present technology has zero life-cycle emissions. There isn't a set standard for "clean electricity". However technologies that cut emissions by say 95% compared with coal should be considered clean. Accordingly, any below about 40 kg CO2/MWhwould qualify.

The present major clean sources are hydro, solar, wind (all called renewables) and nuclear. Nuclear is declining in popularity and the growth potential of hydroelectricity is usually considered low because of environmental objections to large new dams. Solar and wind stand out as the popular leaders for meeting future growth in clean electricity.

Other renewables like biomass, geothermal, wave and tidal energy have their advocates. Also, some fossil fuel technologies under development (carbon capture and storage) reduce emissions using additional process steps to isolate and store much of the CO2 produced. Opinions differ on their merits. I doubt whether any will reach the practical scale needed.

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2. How much clean energy will be needed?

As most low-emissions energy comes in the form of electricity, aclean-energy world will essentially be an all-electric world running on low-CO2 emissions electricity. Climate policies aim to displace all fossil fuels. How much clean electricity will that need?

Energy policy goals are commonly set in terms of renewable energy targets rather than fossil fuel abatement. For example, all but one Australian state and over half the states in the USA have legislated renewable portfolio goals. Victoria's target is 40% by 2025, Queensland's 50% by 2030, and ACT's 100% by 2020. Ultimate success occurs when 100% of the electricity comes from renewables. Hence the common slogan "100% renewables".

But there's a catch. Historically only around 40% of total fossil fuel energy is fed into electricity generation. So "100% renewables" does not equate to elimination of fossil fuels.

Where does the other 60% go? How will it be replaced? Here are some data, from the USA.

  • Coal: 90% is burnt for electric power generation.
  • Natural gas: 35% is used in the electricity industry. 34% goes to other industries. 17% goes to residential use and 12% to commercial use, mostly for heating buildings and water, for cooking and drying, and for refrigeration and cooling.
  • Crude oil: 1% is used in power generation. Most is refined into petroleum products for a wide range of final uses. 69% of those products (petrol, diesel etc.) go to transportation and 25% to industrial applications such as petrochemical feedstocks, petroleum coke, asphalt and lubricants.
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Some of these applications are based on fossil fuels' energy content and some on the rich chemical constitution, several thousand organic compounds, mainly hydrocarbons. For others that binary distinction isn't as straightforward.

Energy-based applications should be amenable to replacement by electrical energy from any source; heating and transport are the obvious candidates. Electric passenger cars are already well established; heavy transport, construction equipment, aviation and shipping less so. For others, the path to electrification is less clear. For example, elimination of fossil fuels in metal smelting, fertiliser manufacturing, petrochemicals, plastics, other non-metallic materials, and explosives will rely on quite new technologies. The amount of electrical or heat energy they will use is presently unknown. It isn't factored into standard long term energy projections like the International Energy Outlook (US Energy Information Administration), World Energy Outlook (International Energy Agency), or Integrated System Plan of Australia's national electricity market operator AEMO. However there are some pointers for future clean electricity needs and these can be related to present electricity supplies.

In 2018 electricity consumption was 941 PJ in Australia and95.8 EJ in the world.

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About the Author

Dr Tom Biegler was a research electrochemist before becoming Chief of CSIRO Division of Mineral Chemistry. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering.

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