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This article is the latest in a series based on the 2019 global energy statistics report recently released by BP. Previous articles in this series focused on carbon dioxide emissions, oil supply and demand, coal production and consumption, global trends in natural gas, and the environment. continued explosion of renewable energy growth:
Today, I want to talk about nuclear energy. I will first address the statistics on nuclear energy, and then I would like to explain why it is important to continue to develop and advance nuclear technology.
Nuclear: in numbers
In 2018, the world produced 2 701 terawatt hours (TWh) of nuclear energy. That's a slight decline over the last decade, but it's a bit misleading. World production of nuclear energy decreased by 10% between 2010 and 2012, a consequence of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan. But global production of nuclear energy has been increasing every year since 2012.
Of course, it was not the first accident to hit the nuclear industry. The most serious incident was the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. The pace of global growth in nuclear energy slowed considerably after Chernobyl, but it did not decrease as it did after the Fukushima accident.
(Click to enlarge)
Nuclear power generation 1965-2018.
The United States remains by far the world's largest producer of nuclear energy. In 2018, the United States generated 850 TWh of nuclear power, which represents 31.4% of total nuclear output worldwide. France was in second place, far behind the United States with 15.3% of the world share. But the United States has nearly five times the population of France and France is therefore leading per capita.
China was third with 10.9% of world nuclear output. China's nuclear program, however, deserves mention because only one of the two countries has developed nuclear energy at more than 10% a year on average per year over the last decade. (Pakistan is the other country, but their global share is minimal of 0.4%). China has also planned more nuclear power plants than any other country. Related: Another beneficiary of the OPEC agreement emerges
Russia (7.6% of the world market) and South Korea (4.9% of the world market) complete the top 5 of the world's nuclear producers.
Japan recorded the largest percentage increase in nuclear energy in 2018, with an increase of 68.9% over production in 2017. Nevertheless, nuclear production in Japan remains well below the levels of nuclear power. Before Fukushima.
Japan was not the only country to experience nuclear energy growth in 2018. China, Switzerland, Pakistan, Taiwan, Mexico and Argentina all recorded growth in two figures of nuclear power generation from 2017. South Korea recorded a double-digit decline. , Belgium and South Africa.
Germany remains determined to completely eliminate nuclear energy, but the country's nuclear power generation has remained virtually unchanged from 2017. Germany remains one of the 10 largest nuclear power producers in the world. world.
The impact of nuclear energy
As I pointed out in the previous article, renewable energies such as wind and solar are poised to generate more electricity in the world than nuclear power this year or the year before. next year. Although we can celebrate the fact that renewable energies are growing, it is important to keep in mind that their growth is not fast enough to stop the growth of energy produced from fossil fuels. In addition, these sources do not represent firm power that can be used on demand.
Last year, global consumption of coal, oil and natural gas was almost four times higher than renewable energy. As a result, global emissions of carbon dioxide reached a new record in 2018. These trends are expected to continue in the near future. The world will experience a rapid growth rate for renewable energy, but an even stronger global growth of fossil fuels.
Nuclear power could help solve this problem because it is the only large-scale source of energy that does not generate carbon emissions during its operation. But the general public is afraid of nuclear power. If we want nuclear power to replace fossil fuels, we need to tackle this collective fear and overcome it. This can only be achieved by convincing the public that accidents such as Chernobyl and Fukushima are no longer possible. Related: Is this the beginning of the end for OPEC?
As I wrote earlier, nuclear power plants must be designed to be protected from failures or even failures. Being out of trouble means that if an accident occurs, the system fails to a safe state. A simple example is an electric fuse. If too much current tries to cross the fuse, the fuse melts and stops the electric current. Future nuclear power plants must be designed to give the public the degree of certainty that there can be no catastrophic accident.
Public expectations may be that nuclear designs must be irreproachable, but there are many reasons why this metric will never be met. The most fundamental reason is that we simply can not protect ourselves against all possible outcomes. Thus, we try to mitigate the possible consequences and implement unfailing designs.
There are those who will always reject the idea of nuclear in all circumstances. But such a position has consequences. Some people think ideally that renewable energies will satisfy the planet's growing energy demand, but in reality this is not the case.
So, whether you like it or not, the absolute rejection of nuclear energy almost certainly means an increase in global emissions of carbon dioxide. This is a high price to pay if you are concerned about the effects of climate change.
By Robert Rapier
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